U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is facing a shutdown as lawmakers on Capitol Hill deadlocked Thursday over bans on face masks and other immigration tactics.
The department’s funding expires Friday evening.
A procedural vote to submit a funding bill failed in the Senate 52-47with Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., the only Democrat joining Republicans on the measure. Senate Majority Leader John Thune changed his vote to re-pass the bill and bring it up again later. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not vote.
The Senate then departed for a scheduled recess over the Presidents Day holiday and will not return to vote until February 23.
Democrats have so far rejected counterproposals from the White House and an offer from Republicans to further extend fleeting funding for DHS during ongoing negotiations.
The vote came just hours after President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced immigration The officers will retreat from Minneapolis, which has become the starting point for the government’s aggressive and deadly escalations that sparked mass protests and withering approval numbers for the president.
Thune said the government’s withdrawal from Minneapolis was “certainly a show of goodwill.”
Demands for warrants and more
The fatal shootings in Minneapolis by federal agents of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, have prompted Democrats to require immigration agents to utilize warrants to forcibly enter homes, wear and actively utilize body cameras, remove face masks, carry identification and undergo additional training.
The department that houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the remaining part of the government for which Congress has not approved full-year funding. In addition to ICE and Customs and Border Protection, the department also includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration, also known as TSA.
Short-term stopgap funds for the department expire at midnight Friday, although ICE is likely to continue operations because of an influx of money coming to the agency as part of the Republicans’ massive tax and spending cuts bill passed in July.
TSA agents, Coast Guard employees and other indispensable government employees will continue their duties without pay until lawmakers reach an agreement. Others are also being sent home without pay, although all will receive a refund once the shutdown ends.
Red lines
Thune said Democrats “don’t seem to want to play along” and consider his party’s “reasonable efforts and demands.”
“There are obviously some red lines that the Democrats and the White House have. I think Republicans, as I’ve told you, are very interested in making sure that law enforcement officers continue to be able to do their jobs in a safe manner and that we don’t allow dangerous illegal aliens in any way or prohibit them from being detained and deported from the country,” the South Dakota Republican said after the failed vote.
Thune said the White House was “increasingly giving in on some of these key issues” but declined to provide further details on the administration’s proposal.
He added that he had no plans to cancel the Senate’s scheduled recess next week, but had informed members that they would need to be available if a deal was reached.
“It encourages me to hear that they will actually come up with another counter-proposal. I think if people act in good faith and actually want a solution… it can be done,” he said.
After the failed vote on year-round funding, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., asked for unanimous approval to keep Homeland Security open with another stopgap measure.
“Let’s keep talking, let’s keep working. Don’t let anyone miss a paycheck,” said Britt, the chairwoman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, objected, saying Democrats wanted to “curb ICE’s lawlessness.”
Democrats want the GOP to get “serious.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated Democrats’ calls for the failed procedural vote.
“This vote today asked a simple question: Will you curb ICE’s abuses or vote to expand the chaos?” he said. “The Republicans chose chaos and the Democrats we rejected – the Republicans chose to bring a bill to the floor that ignored the abuses, ignored the outrage, ignored what the American people overwhelmingly wanted, and failed to get the votes to prevent a shutdown of DHS.”
The New York Democrat urged Republicans to get “serious” about maintaining funding for DHS.
“They have to sit down, they have to negotiate in good faith and come up with legislation that will actually rein in ICE and put an end to the violence,” Schumer said.
Both sides have complained that the other hasn’t worked quickly enough to find a deal over the past two weeks.
“I wish our Republican colleagues in the White House had been more serious from the start, but Senate Democrats have made it clear that we all took an oath, an oath to uphold the law of the land, and this Department of Homeland Security, this ICE, is out of control. They are tear gassing our children’s schools. They are killing American citizens. They are making legal migrants disappear,” Murphy said.
Before Thursday’s vote, Murphy said Democrats would not fund the department until an agreement was reached with the White House to “reform ICE’s abusive practices.”
Murphy told reporters that the White House was “obviously trying to get us to fund the department,” citing the announcement that immigration agents would soon be leaving Minneapolis.
“If we fund ICE because we think it makes sense to use it, they will just take the money and show up in another city in two weeks,” he said. “We need legal changes to stop them from the abuse, otherwise they will be silent for a few weeks and show up in Philadelphia on April 1.”
Thune said during his speech on the Senate floor Thursday morning, “The ball is in the Democrats’ court.”
“Are they going to close the Department of Homeland Security — which would be their second shutdown this fiscal year — or are they going to take the time to negotiate with the White House and reach an agreement on a final bill?” he said.
