Senate passes Trump-backed government funding deal, sending to House
[January 31, 2026]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Friday to fund most of the government
through the end of September while carving out a temporary extension for
Homeland Security funding, giving Congress two weeks to debate new
restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
With a weekend shutdown looming, President Donald Trump struck the
spending deal with Senate Democrats on Thursday in the wake of the
deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
Democrats said they would not vote for the larger spending bill unless
Congress considers legislation to unmask agents, require more warrants
and allow local authorities to help investigate any incidents.
“The nation is reaching a breaking point," Senate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer said after the vote. "The American people are demanding
that Congress step up and force change.”
As lawmakers in both parties called for investigations into the fatal
shootings, Trump said he didn’t want a shutdown and negotiated the rare
deal with Schumer, his frequent adversary. Trump then encouraged members
of both parties to cast a “much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ vote.”
The bill passed 71-29 and will now head to the House, which is not due
back until Monday. That means the government could be in a partial
shutdown temporarily over the weekend until they pass it.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who held a conference call Friday with GOP
lawmakers, said he expects the House to vote Monday evening. But what is
uncertain is how much support there will be for the package.
Johnson's right flank has signaled opposition to limits on Homeland
Security funds, leaving him reliant on Democrats who have their own
objections to funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without
immediate restraints.
Two-week debate over ICE
It was unclear how involved Trump will be in the negotiations over new
restrictions on immigration arrests — or if Republicans and Democrats
could find any points of compromise.
Senate Democrats will not support an extension of Homeland Security
funding in two weeks “unless it reins in ICE and ends violence,” Schumer
said. “If our colleagues are not willing to enact real change, they
should not expect Democratic votes.”
Similarly, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that
any change in the homeland bill needs to be “meaningful and it needs to
be transformative.”
Absent “dramatic change,” Jeffries said, “Republicans will get another
shutdown.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the two sides will “sit
down in good faith,” but it will be “really, really hard to get anything
done,” especially in such a short amount of time.
“We'll stay hopeful, but there are some pretty significant differences
of opinion,” Thune said.
Democrats demand change
Irate Democrats have asked the White House to “end roving patrols” in
cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests,
including requiring tighter rules for warrants.
They also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held
accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be
required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper
identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news
conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. The
Senate voted Friday to fund most of the government through the end
of September after President Donald Trump made a deal with Democrats
to carve out Homeland Security funding and allow Congress to debate
new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Alex Pretti, a 37 year-old ICU nurse, was killed by a border patrol
agent on Jan. 24, two weeks after protester Renee Good was killed by
an ICE officer. Administration officials, including Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem, originally said Pretti had
aggressively approached officers, but multiple videos contradicted
that claim.
Republican pushback
The president’s concessions to Democrats prompted pushback from some
Senate Republicans, delaying the final votes and providing a preview
of the coming debate over the next two weeks. In a fiery floor
speech, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina warned that
Republicans should not give away too much.
“To the Republican party, where have you been?” Graham said, adding
that ICE agents and Border Patrol agents have been “slandered and
smeared.”
Several Republicans have said that if Democrats are going to push
for restrictions on ICE, they will push for restrictions on
so-called “sanctuary cities” that they say do not do enough to
enforce illegal immigration.
“There no way in hell we’re going to let Democrats knee cap law
enforcement and stop deportations in exchange for funding DHS,” said
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., ahead of the vote.
Still, some Republicans said they believe that changes to ICE’s
operations were necessary, even as they were unlikely to agree to
all of the Democrats’ requests.
“I think the last couple of days have been an improvement,” said
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. “I think the rhetoric has been dialed down
a little bit, in Minnesota.”
Last-minute promises
After Trump announced the deal with Democrats, Graham held the
spending bills up for almost a day until Thune agreed to give him a
vote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later date.
Separately, Graham was also protesting a repeal of a new law giving
senators the ability to sue the government for millions of dollars
if their personal or office data is accessed without their knowledge
— as happened to him and other senators as part of the so-called
Arctic Frost investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by Trump
supporters at the Capitol.
The spending bill, which was passed by the House last week, would
repeal that law. But Graham said Thune had agreed to consider a
separate bill that would allow “groups and private citizens” who
were caught up in Jack Smith’s probe to sue.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Joey
Cappelletti, Seung Min Kim, Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville
contributed to this report.
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