NEW: Democrats Plot Government Shutdown Over ICE Funding

Congressional Democrats are increasingly telegraphing a plan to force another government shutdown over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding.

Senior Democrats in both the House and Senate have increasingly suggested that they will do so following the January 8 shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a local “ICE Watch” activist who was shot in Minneapolis after accelerating towards an agent standing directly in front of her car. Despite video evidence of the shooting confirming the agent’s positioning, the event sparked several days of ongoing protests and at times rioting in the Twin Cities region.

The shooting has fueled Democrat-led efforts to impose restrictions on ICE as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding negotiations, with some lawmakers threatening that failure to do comply with their demands will lead to another partial government shutdown.

An impasse over current funding stems from the need to pass appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2025. Congress has already approved several spending packages, but the DHS bill remains stalled.

The deadline for resolving this is January 30, 2026, after which a continuing resolution (CR) or full agreement must be in place to avoid a shutdown affecting non-essential DHS operations, including parts of ICE. While essential ICE enforcement activities would continue due to prior funding from the 2025 budget, a shutdown could disrupt broader government functions, such as pay for certain federal employees and services in other sectors.

Democrats have expressed opposition to providing additional funds to ICE without what they describe as necessary “oversight measures.” These include requirements for agents to obtain warrants for arrests, wear identification during operations, and limit the use of firearms in civil matters.

This would essentially grind ICE operations to a halt and leave agents vulnerable to targeting from far-left extremists, who have launched dozens of violent attacks targeting federal immigration agents over the last 12 months.

“Taxpayer dollars are being used by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to unleash extremism on the streets of America by individuals who are showing depraved indifference to human life,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said earlier this week. He then listed a series of demands aimed at restricting ICE operations.

“There are a variety of different things that can be done that we have put on the table and will continue to put on the table to get ICE under control so that they are actually conducting themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, as opposed to operating as if they’re above the law, somehow thinking they’ve got absolute immunity.”

Regarding the likelihood of a shutdown, Democrats have not explicitly stated that one is inevitable, but their refusal to support the DHS bill without changes has created a standoff.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has drawn a “red line” against funding increases for ICE, potentially leading to a CR that maintains current levels but lacks new reforms. “It’s going to be quite a fight,” said Senator Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with Democrats.

However, a full shutdown would require Democrats to block a CR in the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority but would need 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles. In order to prevent Democrats from holding the chamber hostage — as they did this past fall — a handful of Republicans have advanced a plan that would end the filibuster for government funding matters.

President Donald Trump has called for the filibuster to be abolished entirely, though Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has refused to do so.

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