'Incomplete and Insufficient': Democrats Reject White House Offer, Boosting Chances of Partial Shutdown

The odds of a partial government shutdown this weekend seemed to grow on Tuesday, as Democrats on Capitol Hill held firm on their push for sweeping restrictions to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, rejecting a White House counteroffer they described as hollow and lacking enforceable commitments. With funding for the Department of Homeland Security set to lapse after midnight on Friday, talks between Senate Democrats and the White House remained stuck on the same core dispute: whether to impose new rules governing the conduct of federal immigration agents carrying out Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Democratic leaders say they will not provide votes for funding the department—even temporarily—without new binding guardrails on those agents. “The initial Republican response is incomplete and insufficient,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on Tuesday. “It fails to address America’s concerns about ICE’s lawless conduct.” Democrats have insisted that any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department include requirements for judicial warrants before agents enter homes, clear identification and badge numbers for agents, limits on masks, expanded use of body cameras, new use-of-force standards, and explicit bans on racial profiling. Those demands, Democratic leaders say, are aimed at bringing federal immigration enforcement in line with “the same reasonable standards as state and local law enforcement,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada. “What we’re asking is not radical,” she added. Cortez-Masto, who last year broke with her party during an Affordable Care Act-related shutdown fight, said she would not support another continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security’s funding unless Republicans negotiated in earnest. Schumer said the White House’s counterproposal, delivered late Monday, offered no real constraints on ICE and relied instead on vague assurances, including an expansion of body cameras—a policy the administration has already announced. Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, acting ICE director Todd Lyons acknowledged that despite those announcements, nearly 80% of ICE agents still do not wear cameras. “That’s pathetic,” Schumer said afterward. “For all the talk of lowering the temperature, little meaningful change has happened. Thousands of agents are still roaming the streets, people are still being assaulted by federal law enforcement. It’s only a matter of time before someone else gets seriously hurt or worse.” Republicans, who control the House, Senate and White House, argue that Democrats are demanding changes that would make it harder for agents to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said negotiations were continuing but warned that a deal was unlikely before Friday’s deadline. “If it takes more time, which I believe it will, it would be amenable to allow us to get an extension of the continuing resolution to allow more time for those negotiations to continue,” he said, adding, “These federal employees at TSA and other agencies shouldn’t be held hostage by the Democrats in potentially another government shutdown.” With negotiations at a standstill, Republicans have intensified their public warnings about the consequences of a shutdown, citing airport delays, cybersecurity risks and disruptions to disaster response. But the practical impact on many immigration functions would be limited. The signature domestic policy law Trump signed last year provided ICE with a $75 billion infusion of funding that remains available even if new appropriations lapse. As a result, ICE and Customs and Border Protection would continue operating through a shutdown, as would much of FEMA, which has emergency funds on hand.. “The visible impact for most Americans would likely be pretty small,” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, tells TIME. He added that some employees, including Coast Guard personnel and TSA agents, could go temporarily without pay, but argued that there are workarounds to pay federal employees during a partial shutdown.  Asked whether the limited impact would make Democrats more willing to hold out for an extended period to secure their demands, Blumenthal said: “Well, I think our leverage is that the American people are demanding these reforms. Huge percentages of the American people are absolutely disgusted and they want to change. Republicans control the House, they control the Senate, they control the White House. The only leverage we have is our vote.”