Senate Democrat petitions to ‘pass those funding bills’ for DHS, but to deny ICE any further funding

Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is pushing for a clever strategy to end the ongoing partial government shutdown. He is advocating for Congress to fund most Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies while specifically excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

“Let’s just pass those funding bills,” Kaine stated, as he explained his proposal in a recent television appearance. He emphasized that Democrats are ready to pass funding bills for other critical agencies and suggested that discussions about reforms for ICE and CBP should be confined to just those two agencies. 

He highlighted that Republicans have blocked these efforts so far, despite a funding agreement already negotiated between both parties and houses of Congress for the other departments. Democrats, he explained, are keen to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

They have a point, and these other agencies don’t need reforms

The push to exclude ICE and CBP stems from ongoing calls for significant reforms to immigration operations across the nation, which intensified following the tragic deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration authorities. Lawmakers are now calling for several changes, including requiring a judicial warrant before immigration operations can proceed, removing masks from federal immigration authorities, and mandating the use of body cameras.

As Kaine pointed out, ICE and CBP received funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill. “They’re not running out of money.” This means there’s no immediate pressure to fund them without addressing the reform demands. However, Republicans have been resistant and have even used the current Iran conflict to try to pressure Democrats into pushing funding through without reforms. 

In an attempt to move things forward, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wa) tried to pass a bill earlier this week that would fund DHS while excluding ICE, CBP, and the department secretary’s office. This effort came just moments before Noem was removed, but it was ultimately blocked by Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) via a unanimous consent request.

The partial shutdown is now stretching into its fourth week, with lawmakers remaining at an impasse over these funding disagreements. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has criticized his Democratic colleagues, accusing them of a “flat-out unwillingness to try and solve this problem.” However, Kaine strongly refutes this claim.

“We’ve offered this on the floor, and the Republicans have thus far rejected,” Kaine explained. He added that Republicans have taken an “all or nothing” stance, insisting that all agencies must be funded together. Kaine emphasized that Democrats have agreed on funding all the other agencies, but he reiterated that ICE and CBP are different because they “need reforms.”