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Congressional negotiators unveiled a massive $1.2 trillion spending package that includes funding for several key aspects of the federal government, but partisan tensions are still raging over money going toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The legislation is aimed at funding the Department of War, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), among others. But progressives have threatened a rebellion over funding for ICE, which is included in the DHS portion of the bill, if President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown is not reined in.
The division was spurred by a deadly confrontation between an ICE agent and 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis earlier this month. Responses to Good’s killing from Democrats and Republicans have been sharply divided along partisan lines.
If passed by the House and Senate, the legislation — which combines four separate spending bills into a package called a “minibus” — would be the final piece of the puzzle for Congress to avert another government shutdown come Jan. 30.
DEMOCRATS’ DILEMMA: PROGRESSIVE PUSH TO ‘ABOLISH ICE’ SPARKS FRESH DIVIDE IN PARTY
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, acknowledged frustrations raised by progressives, but fell short of outright condemning the bill.
“I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE. I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities,” DeLauro said in a statement Tuesday morning.
“The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA agents will be forced to work without pay, FEMA assistance could be delayed and the U.S. Coast Guard will be adversely affected,” she said.
A significant number of far-left Democrats threatened to vote against funding for DHS days before the package was released.
“I am glad to announce that the Congressional Progressive Caucus has adopted an official position to hold ICE accountable. Our caucus members will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriations bills until meaningful reforms are enacted to end militarized policing practices,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said last week at a press event.
Omar is the deputy chair for the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of more than 70 lawmakers.
$174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN CLEARS KEY HURDLE IN SENATE
The bill text keeps the $10 billion in funding for ICE appropriated in 2025, but it also comes with reductions in the agency’s budget for removal of illegal immigrants.
Among the guardrails on ICE, the bill includes $20 million for body cameras for Border Patrol officers and new training requirements on de-escalation and public engagement.
The move threatens to undo support among Republicans who may demand to see that funding restored or increased. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to lose only two votes amid razor-thin margins in the House following the sudden death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., both of which happened earlier this month.
On the whole, the bundle of four bills funds the government’s needs for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development to the tune of $102.8 billion, sets aside $221 billion for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, allocates $64.4 billion for DHS and increases defense spending to $839.2 billion.
Congress has passed six of the needed 12 bills to fund the government in FY2026.
In a statement on the latest spending package, House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he hoped lawmakers would press on to finalize the year’s funding.
“At a time when many believed completing the FY ’26 process was out of reach, we’ve shown that challenges are opportunities. It’s time to get it across the finish line,” Cole said.
The $1.2 trillion package will reach the floor for a vote in the House later this week.
For now, a shutdown is not on the menu for Senate Democrats, nor is there a desire to turn to a government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to keep the lights on in Washington, D.C.
That’s because Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argue either scenario would only benefit the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to DHS funding, because of the nearly $200 billion in funding already delivered to the agency through Trump’s signature “big, beautiful bill.”
DEMS RELENT, SENATE SENDS $174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO TRUMP’S DESK AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS OVER DHS FUNDING
Schumer, in particular, has been wary of flirting with another shutdown in the wake of the longest closure in U.S. history, instead arguing that Democrats want to focus on funding the government through spending bills, largely to include their own priorities and to try to reverse any spending cuts from the past year.
And Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, charged that the DHS under Secretary Kristi Noem was “frankly sick and un-American,” and that ICE was “out-of-control.”
But, she acknowledged that the best way Democrats could try to corral them would be through the government funding process.
“ICE must be reined in, and unfortunately, neither a CR nor a shutdown would do anything to restrain it, because, thanks to Republicans, ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap whether or not we pass a funding bill,” Murray said.
“The suggestion that a shutdown in this moment might curb the lawlessness of this administration is not rooted in reality: under a CR and in a shutdown, this administration can do everything they are already doing — but without any of the critical guardrails and constraints imposed by a full-year funding bill,” she continued.
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