With only a few days till a Friday deadline to fund the Division of Homeland Safety, Republican and Democratic lawmakers nonetheless seem like at an deadlock on easy methods to transfer ahead with Democrats’ calls for for brand spanking new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer mentioned Democrats delivered proposed legislative textual content that displays their 10-item record of calls for to Republican management over the weekend. The GOP offered a counterproposal, which Schumer and Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries mentioned they rejected Monday night time.
Particulars of the GOP counteroffer haven’t been made public, however in keeping with Democrats, it did not embody “particulars” or “legislative textual content.”
“The preliminary GOP response is each incomplete and inadequate by way of addressing the issues People have about ICE’s lawless conduct. Democrats await extra element and textual content,” Schumer and Jeffries mentioned within the assertion.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune wouldn’t present particulars on the GOP supply when requested by reporters on Tuesday.
“I feel either side are proper now attempting — aside from it sounds just like the Democrats up listed here are speaking about it — try to maintain the conversations shifting ahead and never litigating that in public,” Thune mentioned.
Senate Minority Chief Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters as he arrives on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures
The negotiations are coming as one other partial authorities shutdown looms. If a DHS funding answer is just not reached and handed in each chambers by the top of the day Friday, DHS would then shut down.
The TSA, Coast Guard, Customs and Border Safety, U.S. Secret Service, CISA and FEMA could be impacted although lawmakers’ focus is on Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform. ICE operations wouldn’t be impacted after it obtained $75 billion in separate funding from the already-passed “Huge Stunning Invoice.”
In a letter final week to Republican leaders, Jeffries and Schumer laid out 10 key calls for from Democrats on DHS funding, together with calling for judicial warrants earlier than brokers can enter non-public property, a ban on ICE brokers sporting face masks, requiring using physique cameras and new legal guidelines for use-of-force requirements.
Schumer has known as Democrats’ calls for “exceedingly affordable.”
“We’re asking ICE to do nothing greater than comply with the requirements that the overwhelming majority of legislation enforcement companies already comply with. Why ought to ICE be completely different, particularly once they have such a file of brutality?” Schumer mentioned.
The funding battle over DHS erupted within the aftermath of the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a taking pictures involving federal legislation enforcement in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Renee Good, a mom of three, was fatally shot by ICE brokers in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Earlier Monday, Thune mentioned on the Senate flooring that Democrats engaged in “significant talks” with the White Home on a path ahead for funding DHS over the weekend.
“Democrats have made their calls for recognized intimately. A few of them are constructive beginning factors for additional discussions; others are non-staters and unnecessarily tie the palms of legislation enforcement,” Thune mentioned on the Senate flooring.
However Thune mentioned Republicans, at the side of the White Home, will search calls for of their very own.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., talks with reporters as he walks from his workplace to the Senate Chamber on the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 9, 2026 in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures
“I count on that the Trump administration, with the complete backing of congressional Republicans, will proceed to withstand any effort to make it tougher for legislation enforcement to detain and deport harmful unlawful aliens, which is what lots of the Democrats calls for would do, and I count on that the administration — once more with the backing of Republicans right here in Congress — will insist on reforms of its personal,” Thune mentioned.
As negotiations proceed behind the scenes, Thune mentioned on Monday that lawmakers will possible want extra time to finish their work. He urged Democrats to help a stopgap funding proposal to maintain the lights on at DHS whereas they proceed discussions on ICE reform.
“We’re only a few days away from the deadline that Democrats selected,” Thune mentioned. “And it is very doable we cannot have our work completed by then. If Democrats are critical about discovering an answer there, they might want to search out extra time to convey these efforts to a productive conclusion.”
