Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding deal

What happened

Senate Democrats and President Donald Trump Thursday announced a deal to fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, aiming to prevent a partial government shutdown starting Saturday. Under the agreement, funding for DHS would be severed from five other spending bills, and its full-year funding would be contingent on reforms to ICE. The House last week passed a $1.2 trillion package fully funding all six departments, but Senate Democrats and eight Republicans voted that bill down Thursday.

Who said what

Separating the DHS funding was a “victory for Senate Democrats, who are unified behind demands for enforcement policy changes” after immigration agents in Minneapolis killed Alex Pretti, said Politico. “This is a moment of truth,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “Congress must act to rein in ICE and end the violence.” Trump endorsed the deal on social media, saying he hoped “both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”

The deal “still faced obstacles in a Congress where bipartisan consensus is elusive and progress is often slow,” The New York Times said, but it “reflected an abrupt political shift that has taken hold at the White House and on Capitol Hill” following Pretti’s killing. Democrats are demanding that ICE agents get judicial warrants for stop and searches, end their “roving” immigration sweeps, abide by enforceable use-of-force standards, wear body cameras, and stop using masks. “These lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

Senate Republicans are “checking with individual senators for objections,” as anything but unanimous consent would block the bill from quick passage, The Washington Post said. Even if the Senate acts today, “a short funding lapse is still likely, as any changes would need to be approved by the House, which is scheduled to be out of town until Monday.”

What next?

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told The Associated Press that while he “vehemently opposed” splitting off DHS funding, “if it is broken up, we will have to move it as quickly as possible. We can’t have the government shut down.” Getting House conservatives to back the deal “could be challenging,” the Post said, but House GOP aides said their caucus was “likely to support it as the president has requested.”

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