The Senate passed a White House-brokered funding deal on Friday evening, teeing up a House vote for early next week as Washington barrels toward a brief government shutdown.
The legislation, which cleared the Senate’s filibuster in a 71-29 vote, marks a major breakthrough for Congress, as it addresses some of the thorniest spending bills for the remainder of the fiscal year. But as part of the deal, Democrats agreed to a two-week extension for the Department of Homeland Security to buy more time for a compromise on immigration enforcement.
The House was on recess this week, meaning there will be a partial shutdown on Friday at midnight, with the Office of Management and Budget already making preparations for a brief lapse in funding. But the chamber will be returning on Monday and is expected to take up the bills that evening.
About half of all Senate Democrats voted against the funding deal, which funds the Pentagon, Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal agencies. Five Republicans, all fiscal hawks, also voted “no”: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Rick Scott (R-FL).
The deal, a version of the legislation passed by the House earlier this month, was blessed by President Donald Trump, who urged senators Thursday to support it and, on Truth Social, advocated against a “long and damaging Government Shutdown.”
But Senate leadership had to overcome a temporary setback as senators blockaded the legislation as leverage for their own priorities.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) emerged as the most vocal stumbling block but lifted his objections on Friday afternoon in exchange for a future vote on legislation penalizing “sanctuary cities,” as well as a separate bill directing monetary damages for groups affected by Biden-era surveillance led by special counsel Jack Smith.
Other senators secured amendment votes as part of the funding legislation, each of which failed before final passage. Among those amendments, Paul attempted to strip away refugee funding, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tried to redirect funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Medicaid.
The Senate also considered votes on whether to ban earmarks, plus one from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) that would have banned the Trump administration from using pocket rescissions, a type of spending clawback appropriators insist is illegal.
Democrats ultimately got their wish for a two-week extension of DHS funding, rather than the four to six weeks sought by Republicans. Limiting DHS funding was crucial to win over enough Democrats after they blocked a full-year bill from advancing on Thursday.
That bill had a number of reforms to ICE after the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis, but the death of a second U.S. citizen last weekend derailed the deal, leading Democrats to insist on additional guardrails.
CHUCK SCHUMER LAYS OUT ICE DEMANDS TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
The White House and Senate Republicans have expressed openness to some changes, which Democrats are insisting be etched into law. Among their demands, Democrats want to “tighten” warrant requirements, mandate ICE coordination with state and local law enforcement, implement use-of-force rules similar to those for local police, and prohibit agents from masking their identities.
The most difficult part will be negotiating concessions that both sides can swallow in such a short period. But even if the department were to shutter, ICE operations would still be funded from money Republicans approved last year in Trump’s tax law.
