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Published : 22 Jan 2026, 10:34 PM
Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Thursday were girding to oppose a Department of Homeland Security funding bill in protest at President Donald Trump's dispatch of masked federal agents to cities and states, including Minneapolis, as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration that has also snared American citizens.
Congress is staring down a Jan 31 deadline to pass 12 spending bills or another stopgap measure to keep federal agencies across the Trump administration operating. Failure to act could risk the second government shutdown in four months.
Lawmakers have made progress on that front so far, as the dozen bills have won the support of Republican and Democratic negotiators.
House debate on the DHS funding bill and a sweeping package of other measures began early on Thursday with votes scheduled for later in the day.
House Democratic leaders said they will oppose the Homeland Security spending bill as the nation is reeling over the Jan 7 killing of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
House Republicans opened debate applauding the fact that they were on the precipice of finally completing their budget work for this fiscal year that began last October 1, four months late. If they are successful the House will approve and send to the Senate funding for federal programs ranging from military and health to transportation, education and housing, in addition to homeland security. "We are indeed ready to move forward and complete the appropriations process," Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina said.
Democrats focused largely on the DHS bill, arguing that it lacks sufficient guardrails against ICE excesses. Their opposition could prompt many rank-and-file Democrats to follow suit.
"ICE is out of control. We are watching federal agents roll through communities like they are above the law, stopping people, harassing people, intimidating people and yes shooting them," Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said, noting that even US citizens are now carrying their passports out of fear of being detained.
Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said the bill empowers frontline agents to uphold immigration laws.
With Republicans' razor-thin 218-213 House majority, it was unclear whether Speaker Mike Johnson could win passage of the $64.4 billion DHS bill. Prospects are also unclear in the Senate.
Defeat could trigger furloughs of DHS workers deemed "unessential," which likely would not have an impact on ICE operations. Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," enacted last year, lavished ICE with an additional $75 billion whether or not the House passed the DHS spending bill.
Some influential Democrats are calling on colleagues to recognise their limits and support the package.
"The hard truth is that Democrats must win political power to enact the kind of (ICE) accountability we need," said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, referring to November's congressional elections.
Aside from the immigration dispute, experts say the spending bills show some evidence that Congress is moving to reassert its control over federal spending, after Trump refused to spend billions of dollars that had already been signed into law last year.
Brendan Duke of the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the spending bills protect many programs targeted by Trump, such as medical research, housing and education.
"We will see if President Trump respects this agreement," he said.
