A new funding fight over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could trigger another partial government shutdown if Democrats and Republicans fail to agree on restrictions for immigration enforcement following two fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis this month.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and most House Democrats opposed a funding deal Senate Democrats reached with the White House, signaling unified Democratic pressure for DHS reform ahead of a Feb. 13 deadline to fund the agency. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Jeffries presented coordinated demands and said discussions among Democrats have been productive.
The push to decouple DHS funding from other appropriations gained momentum after the deaths of Renee Good, fatally shot by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse killed in a Jan. 24 confrontation involving federal law enforcement. An Ipsos poll conducted Jan. 30–Feb. 1 found 62 percent of Americans say current ICE efforts to address unauthorized immigration go too far.
In a letter to Republican leaders, Jeffries and Schumer outlined 10 key conditions for a DHS funding bill. Those requests included requiring judicial warrants before agents enter private property, banning ICE officers from wearing face masks, mandating body-worn cameras, adopting new use-of-force standards, calling for a drawdown of federal enforcement activity in Minnesota, and even suggesting the removal of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The letter asked that these and other reforms be incorporated before Democrats would support funding.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Senate Democratic appropriator, said Democrats are engaged in talks but insisted any funding measure must rein in alleged abuses by ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Despite public statements, bipartisan negotiations had not begun immediately; Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House into recess early on Wednesday.
Schumer said Democrats are prepared to negotiate but warned they would withhold votes if Republicans do not offer meaningful reform. Democrats and Republicans also appeared uncertain about the right negotiating counterpart, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly advising Democrats to take their concerns to the White House.
Thune criticized Democrats for failing to put forward a concrete offer, saying he had received nothing from them as of Wednesday morning. Jeffries countered that Republicans are hesitant to embrace sweeping changes and urged bold, substantive reform of DHS practices.
On the Republican side, Speaker Johnson criticized Democrats’ demand for a second judicial warrant beyond immigration proceedings as impractical given time constraints. He expressed openness to compromise on body cameras but opposed a face-mask ban for agents, citing concerns over doxxing and officer safety. So far, Democrats have not translated their demands into legislative text, and Republicans have not put forward a counterproposal addressing the looming deadline. Johnson said he planned to discuss the matter with President Trump and hoped substantive negotiations would occur in the coming weeks.
Jeffries rejected a continuing resolution that would fund DHS through the end of the fiscal year, calling it unacceptable and urging lawmakers to resolve the dispute by Feb. 13. He tied the urgency to recent violent incidents he says are linked to current enforcement actions and argued that public safety and community trust demand reforms now.
Democrats accused Republicans of creating the conditions for another shutdown, with Jeffries asserting that House leadership supports the deployment of masked ICE agents in communities in a way that contrasts with public opinion.
A lapse in DHS funding would affect much more than ICE. The DHS appropriations bill also funds the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and other agencies. Officials warn a shutdown could disrupt FEMA disaster response, TSA airport operations, Coast Guard missions and other essential services. The reporting notes that ICE has some FY2026 funding and that the previously passed “Big Beautiful Bill” provided substantial funding for the agency over the next decade, but a DHS lapse would still have broad consequences across homeland security operations.
With both parties exchanging demands and no legislative language filed yet, lawmakers are focused on the Feb. 13 deadline as they weigh proposed reforms to immigration enforcement against the risk of another government funding crisis.