House Democrats are at a breaking point on whether to support a compromise funding package that would end the government shutdown — or leverage the moment to secure reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“If they’re not going to make any serious reforms, there’s just a sense in the House that we’re not co-signing on that,” Rep Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said of the spending package passed out of the Senate late last week.
But Swalwell’s view isn’t universal among Democrats.
“Yes,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, answered simply when asked if he would vote to end the shutdown.
After reaching an impasse over immigration enforcement reforms in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., cut a deal with the White House last week to advance outstanding spending for 2026 while extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for two weeks.
The bill would fund the yearlong needs for the departments of War, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services.
In addition to ending a four-day funding lapse for those departments, it would also give lawmakers time to negotiate over provisions for ICE.
That compromise passed out of the Senate in a bipartisan 71-29 vote.
In its current form, the bill does not include several key demands that Democrats have made in the wake of two fatal confrontations in Minneapolis between immigration enforcement and civilians. Among other elements, Democrats have demanded legislation to end ICE’s roaming patrols, strengthen warrant requirement protections, ban masks and require visible identification for ICE agents.
Without their inclusion, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made it clear he believes the legislation falls short.
REPUBLICANS, DEMS BREAK THROUGH RESISTANCE, MOVE FORWARD WITH TRUMP-BACKED FUNDING PACKAGE
“We’ve made a clear line in the sand. We’ve articulated the things that will be necessary for there to be a full-year appropriations bill connected to ICE funding,” Jeffries said Monday when asked if he would support the two-week extension.
Even in the absence of key Democrat demands, Cuellar said he thinks the bill is consistent with his previous positions.
“I’m looking at the bills. It’s the bill that we voted on with a two-week extension to Homeland [Security],” Cuellar said, referring to legislation that already passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support in January.
Cuellar was one of the seven Democrats who broke with his party to advance the original bill. That package included limited reforms to DHS operations — such as requiring body cameras for ICE agents and additional training on interacting with civilians.
Cuellar said he is holding out hope that additional reforms can be negotiated in the two-week window.
“Hopefully, we can add more things that we wanted,” Cuellar said. “We added some things, but we need a lot more. I think the dynamics have changed a little bit. There will be more wiggle room in the future.”
Cuellar’s view is shared by other Democrats wary of a longer government shutdown — the second government funding lapse in just three months.
Notably, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., also said she would support the spending deal.
“The House should quickly clear those bills, minimizing a lapse in funding that would shutter, at least partially, eight cabinet departments and dozens of agencies within them,” DeLauro said in a press release last week.
Democrats approached by Fox News Digital did not speak about how Jeffries and Schumer differ on their shutdown strategies.
Rep. Jarred Moskowitz, D-Fla., did not say how he would vote but pointed out he’s not surprised by the divide on an issue as charged as immigration enforcement.
“I think we are at a time where we’re out of sync with our Senate colleagues,” Moskowitz said. “It happens. House Republicans and Senate Republicans are out of sync all the time.”
“It was a deal made with Senate Dems. House Dems were not involved,” Moskowitz said of the spending extension bill. “But that’s a process thing. The American people care about whether U.S. citizens are being shot in the face.”
Moskowitz said he understands why Democrats like Swalwell and Jeffries oppose punting negotiations on ICE.
Moskowitz believes that as the White House begins to pull ICE out of Minnesota and requires its agents in the states to begin wearing body cameras, the pressure Democrats can exert on reforms may be diminished in two weeks as the national focus goes elsewhere.
“It’ll become less of a national news story, so it’ll be much better to negotiate a deal for the White House at that point in time,” Moskowitz said.
The House will vote on Tuesday to advance the shutdown-ending spending legislation. It’s unclear how many Democrats may ultimately join Cuellar and DeLauro in supporting the package.
Because of razor-thin margins for Republicans in the House, the legislation may depend on the support of a handful of Democrats amid GOP concerns over DHS, earmarks included in the package, and the lack of voting security legislation.
