Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday three demands he said would be essential to securing Democrats’ support for a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill that must pass before the end of Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Schumer outlined the three reforms he wanted made to the department, telling reporters that these demands were “common-sense and necessary policy goals” his caucus is “united” on. The reforms involved some new requests — such as requiring agents to remove their masks — as well as enforcing body camera usage, which is a policy the House already appropriated funds for in the DHS funding bill the lower chamber passed Jan. 22.
Schumer first called to end roving patrols — operations where officers drive through neighborhoods — and to tighten requirements for agents to obtain warrants before entering homes.
He also called to “enforce accountability by establishing a universal code of conduct governing federal law enforcement officers’ use of force.”
Schumer’s final demand was to “prohibit federal officers from wearing masks and require them to wear body cameras and proper identification.” Democrats have previously called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop wearing masks throughout 2025.
Democrats’ proposed changes would require stripping the DHS bill from its larger funding package and sending its newly amended language back to the House where some Republicans are already assembling their own amendments to the bill. Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy posted on X that he would like to strip sanctuary city funding from the DHS bill if it were to return to the House for amendment approval, among other policies.
The funding package, or minibus, the Senate is currently considering also includes agencies such as Health and Human Services, Education, the Department of War, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The aftermath of Pretti’s death upended expectations that the largely bipartisan funding package would quickly pass ahead of the rapidly approaching government funding deadline at the end of the month.
Schumer wrote in a Saturday X post, sent hours after Pretti’s shooting, that he “will vote no” and “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed” on the funding package “if the DHS funding bill is included.” In the same post, he called the DHS bill “woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE.”
If the DHS bill were separated from the package, the upper chamber would approve the remaining five funding bills on a scheduled Thursday vote and implement a short term continuing resolution for the DHS bill to allow for extra time to negotiate their reform demands. If the bill is not stripped from the package, a partial government shutdown would start on Jan. 31.
Multiple lawmakers, including some Republicans, have called for an independent investigation into the recent fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. The DHS is currently conducting an in-house “use of force” review while analysts, have pointed out that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) would typically lead such an investigation.
The Trump administration placed the agents involved in the shooting on administrative leave, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
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