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GOP balks over changes to DHS funding bill as Dems threaten another shutdown

January 28, 2026 | | Print Article

Republicans are balking over Democrat demands for a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill to be stripped out of a larger funding package to avoid a partial government shutdown, their latest act of political extortion.

The country is careening toward a sequel to the “Schumer shutdown” beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday if Democrats don’t play ball on the over $1.2 trillion package passed by the House last week that would fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year.

Instead of doing what’s right for the country, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and his fellow Democrats have seized on public outrage over the shooting of left-wing agitator Alex Pretti to undermine President Donald J. Trump and his policies to deport illegal aliens, a demographic vital to their political survival and ability to win back congressional control in this year’s midterm elections.

“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling—and unacceptable in any American city. Democrats sought common-sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no,” Schumer said in a statement over the weekend.

“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” the New York City Democrat declared.

GOP senators are looking to advance the six separate bills together despite Democrat grandstanding over the incident in Minneapolis which they themselves greatly contributed to with months of incendiary rhetoric demonizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (DBP) agents as “Nazis” and the enforcing of federal immigration law as “fascism,” fueling the resistance fantasies of their deranged base.

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“I still think if there are things the Democrats want in the Homeland bill or addressed in the context of the situation, that they ought to make those clear and known and see to what degree the administration may be able to address them. … I would prefer that there be a way that we keep the package together,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday, according to The Hill.

On Monday, Homeland Security Appropriations subpanel Chairwoman Katie Britt (R-AL) told reporters that she’s opposed to separating the DHS funding bill from the others.

“I remain hopeful, certainly have been talking and listening to my Democratic colleagues,” Britt said. “I think the best pathway forward is to be able pass them all this week, if we can find appropriate things within the purview of the administration.”

The Alabama Republican noted that the DHS bill, which provides tens of billions of ICE funding, also includes money for agent body cams and “de-escalation tactics.”

“We’ve also done a lot of good things within this bill. So, if you look at everything from body cameras for ICE, if you look at de-escalation for training that’s in there. Also, [there is] money in there for [the inspector general], for detention, etc. I think those are things all Americans can rally behind,” she said.

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Other GOP lawmakers are vowing to resist Democrat efforts to undermine DHS operations.

“I’ll oppose any effort to defund DHS,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote in a post to X. “Every Republican should.”

In a Jan. 27 letter to Trump, the conservative House Freedom Caucus urged the president to ensure that DHS “is funded fully along with all remaining appropriations bills – and not allow Democrats to strip its funding out to pass other appropriations separately.”

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“We are not going to let Chuck Schumer defund Homeland Security to protect criminal illegal aliens. One way or another, we will make sure that ICE, Border Patrol, FEMA, TSA, Coast Guard, Secret Service, etc., get the funding they need,” the caucus said in a post to X on Monday, sharing a copy of their letter to Trump.

“The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own, and Republicans and Democrats must work together to make that happen,” Schumer ranted from the Senate floor on Tuesday. “In the meantime, I will vote no on any legislation that funds ICE until it is reined in and overhauled, and Senate Democrats are overwhelmingly united on this issue.”

“The ball is in Leader Thune’s court. He must quickly move to prevent a shutdown,” the Democrat leader added, blaming his GOP counterpart for the coming shutdown that will be solely his fault if it happens.

Americans voted overwhelmingly to remove the millions of criminal illegal aliens Joe Biden let into the country. But now Senate Democrats want to abolish ICE—and they’re threatening another Schumer shutdown unless we stop enforcing immigration laws. Not going to happen,” the Senate Republicans said in a Monday post to X.

Chris Donaldson
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