Right now, Democrats in the Senate are playing the power card as though they hold the future of ICE in their hands with the upcoming budget vote.
If that is their plan, it is flawed, very much so, as ICE will continue to stay operational even if the government funding bill fails.
It appears that Democrats need help reading bills they sign because ICE funding has already been secured in the big, beautiful bill.
Last week, several Democrats crossed the aisle to support the upcoming spending bill, with the final vote being 220-207.
This would give DHS the funding it needs to continue operations, which has been a point of contention for most Democrats, who are using the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti to try to defund ICE.
When the bill passed, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took the expected victory lap, stating, "Despite the noise, despite our slim margins, despite the fact that most members in the House have never gone through a regular, member-driven appropriations process before, this team got it done.”
He continued, "The House has now passed all 12 appropriations bills, the Senate will soon do the same, and the president is going to sign them into law — what a concept."
One would think that, given how badly the last shutdown went, Democrats would avoid doing it again, but the opposite is true.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was given the excuse they needed to grandstand, so what was once deemed an easy pass is now facing resistance in the Senate as the negotiated deal begins to fall apart.
Schumer appears to be pushing another shutdown, stating, "Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans' refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no."
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) added, "Federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences.”
This is all grandstanding by Democrats because their sole purpose for shutting down the government has been defeated in last year's massive spending bill.
That bill included $75 billion in supplemental funding for ICE and designated the agency as “excepted workers,” meaning they will remain on duty and be paid during a government shutdown.
The GOP has called out Democrats over the grandstanding, with a party spokesperson stating, “What Democrats want are policy changes, yet they themselves negotiated these appropriations bills, and there were House Democrats who supported homeland security appropriations in the House even after the Renee Good shooting.”
This is now about Democrats having public opinion in their favor, so they are going to use that to try to make wholesale changes in how this administration handles immigration policy. I don’t expect it to work, but the question remains: how can Trump go on the offensive instead of continuing to play defense? Trump is much better when he is attacking, so I expect him to make a move on this very soon.
