Shutdown clock ticks as Schumer, Democrats dig in on DHS funding demands

Senate Democrats aren’t ready to concede in their push for stringent reforms to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and are ready to buck Senate Republicans’ plans to avert a partial shutdown. 

Their resistance comes as Senate Republicans and the White House have floated a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposed DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reforms. But the two sides remain far apart on a deal to fund the agency, and they are quickly running out of time.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the top-ranking Senate Democrat on the Homeland Security spending panel, said he would not support another short-term DHS funding extension unless Republicans made meaningful concessions on immigration enforcement.

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Murphy also dismissed the White House’s proposal as a list of “sophomoric talking points.”

“We had plenty of time, they wasted two weeks,” Murphy said. “They still haven’t given us any meaningful answer or response.” 

His position is shared by several Senate Democrats, who have unified around a push to codify a list of 10 DHS reforms. Those include requirements that ICE agents obtain judicial warrants, unmask and display identification — provisions Republicans have labeled red lines.

The standoff follows criticism late Monday from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who rejected President Donald Trump’s counteroffer.

In a joint statement, the leaders said the proposal “is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct.” Jeffries added that he would not support another short-term funding patch, known as a continuing resolution (CR), Tuesday morning. 

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Schumer argued that there was plenty of time to hash out a deal. 

“There’s no reason we can’t get this done by Thursday,” he said. 

With a Friday funding deadline approaching, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up a backup plan Tuesday night as the risk of a shutdown grew.

Thune and Senate Republicans have warned since Trump and Schumer finalized a broader funding agreement earlier this month that Congress did not have enough time to negotiate and pass a revised DHS funding bill in just two weeks.

“I understand that on the other side of the Capitol, the Democrats are already objecting to that, which is no big surprise since they haven’t voted for anything yet,” Thune said.

“I think there are Democrats in both the House and the Senate who do want to see this addressed,” he added. “I’m hopeful the conversations lead to an outcome, but we probably won’t know by the time the current CR expires.”

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As with most funding fights, both parties accuse the other of failing to negotiate in good faith.

“I’m not for putting DHS on a CR until they show us they are serious about doing something,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Fox News Digital.

Republicans counter that Democrats spent more than a week drafting their proposal, while the White House produced a counteroffer in less than two days.

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital that Republicans didn’t expect their counterparts to accept their offer, “but we didn’t accept theirs either.” 

“Hopefully, this is a working footprint,” Mullin said. “We can start negotiating, because we’re definitely not accepting their things. But the thing is, what we’re trying to do is protect the ability for ICE and our border agents to do their job. I think it’s pretty clear, though, unless the Democrats want to shut down DHS, we’re going to have to do another CR.”