01.28.26 - Senate Democrats’ proposal on DHS funding

Senate Democrats are calling for new guardrails on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following Alex Pretti’s murder by a border patrol agent last weekend. On Monday, we explained the Senate’s options ahead of a Friday deadline to pass six government funding bills, including one for DHS: keep the six bills packaged together, or strip out DHS so negotiations on reforms might continue. Today, we’ll catch you up on where things stand. 

Recap on government funding 

As a reminder: Congress has passed six of the 12 bills that fund the government. The House passed the last of the remaining six bills and sent them to the Senate as a single package last week (more details on this in Monday’s issue). The package before the Senate contains appropriations bills for: 

• Defense 

• Financial Services-General Government

• Homeland Security

• Labor-Health and Human Services-Education 

• National Security-State

• Transportation-Housing and Urban Development

The House then left D.C. for recess, putting the onus on senators to approve the House’s package or allow the government to (partially) shut down—but the second murder of an American citizen by an immigration agent this month made this option untenable. Now, the question before senators is whether to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol more resources without guardrails to address federal agents’ violence in Minnesota or disregard for constitutional protections, or to use the opportunity before them to protect communities. 

A Friday government funding deadline presents a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. As we explained on Monday, the Senate could remove DHS from the funding package and approve the remaining five bills, keeping the rest of the government funded through September. Even Republican senators have voiced support for this approach, and Senate GOP Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled it out. As for DHS…

Senate Democrats propose a path forward for DHS

…Senate Democrats proposed changes to the DHS bill this afternoon. These include: 

• Requiring warrants for arrests.

• Requiring use of body cameras. Immigration agents have been seen recording operations with phones, risking the footage’s manipulation or erasure. 

• Requiring the same use-of-force policies that apply to local law enforcement.

• Requiring independent—not DHS-run—investigations. Customs and Border Protection currently plans to investigate the killing of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent, even though the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division typically investigates civilian shootings by law enforcement officers. The Trump administration’s track record for such investigations suggests little appetite for accountability: Vox reports, “in 16 shootings by federal immigration agents since last summer, none have resulted in criminal charges against the agents, or even any known disciplinary measures.”

• Ending the “secret police”—i.e., requiring agents to ID themselves and barring face masks.

What to watch next 

The Senate votes on whether to advance the six-bill funding package, which includes DHS, tomorrow. That vote is expected to fail, at which point talks on Democrats’ proposal could pick up. 

Again, any changes the Senate makes will need House approval and the President’s signature to become law—not an easy feat by a Friday deadline. Could there be a government shutdown over the weekend as a result? Yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean another weeks-long impasse like last fall. Democratic lawmakers aren’t the only ones saying DHS agents’ tactics can’t continue. The question now is whether enough Republicans will move beyond statements to enact changes. 

We’ll continue to keep you posted. 

If you’d like a live update for your group or coalition, reach out to catherine@webuildprogress.org. Thanks!