Democrats have demanded negotiations for weeks on immigration enforcement, but so far Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has not been willing to talk to Republicans, several GOP senators said Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday that various parties have contacted Schumer to ramp up negotiations, but the lead Democrat has not shown any interest in cutting a deal. Lawmakers are up against a fast-approaching Feb. 13 deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or risk triggering a prolonged shutdown.
“[Republican Alabama] Senator [Katie] Britt has reached out multiple times now to Senator Schumer, or whomever he wants to negotiate on his behalf, and it’s been crickets over there,” Thune told reporters Thursday. “The White House has tried, too.”
Britt, a key Senate dealmaker, told the DCNF her outreach to Schumer has not materialized in negotiations despite visiting his office on multiple occasions.
“Obviously, it is a bit of political posturing if you’re just going to do press conferences and tweets and not have dialogue,” she said. “I certainly hope that changes.”
A spokesperson for Schumer did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Schumer’s reluctance to start negotiations comes after Democrats insisted on a short-term funding patch for DHS to allow for talks with Republicans to discuss changes to immigration enforcement. Republicans warned against a two-week funding extension and pushed for funding DHS on a longer term basis.
A DHS funding bill would need 60 votes to overcome the Senate filibuster, meaning a handful of Democrats would have to join Republicans in supporting the measure.
Britt criticized Schumer for attempting to negotiate with the media instead of beginning serious conversations with Republicans. The lead Democrat posted a laundry list of policy demands on social media Wednesday — a week after outlining several core proposals with no legislative text attached.
“If it takes a week to get a list of ‘demands,’ how long does it take to figure out where you agreed before, and then to actually put that on paper, and then to actually get that across the finish line,” Britt said.
Senate Republican leadership immediately poured cold water on Democrats’ demands Thursday to reform immigration enforcement, which Thune called “totally unserious.”
“Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families,” Schumer and Jeffries said in the letter addressed to Republican leadership.
Included in the 10-point list are proposals to tighten warrant requirements, ban agents from wearing masks and require them to publicly display their last names. These three demands are likely to be nonstarters with Republicans.
“Their demand list went from three items to 10 items. It shows you they’re not serious,” Thune said, referring to Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso also disputed the number of Democrats’ demands, alleging the “fine print” amounts to 23 proposals “designed to protect illegal immigrant criminals.”
Thune also said on the Senate floor Thursday that Democrats will own a DHS shutdown given their reluctance to begin talks.
Britt said it’s critical for Schumer to come to the table because a prolonged DHS shutdown would have disproportionate impacts on non-immigration entities under the sprawling agency’s purview, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Secret Service and the Coast Guard.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would likely continue operating during a prolonged shutdown due to funding the agencies received in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Let’s have a tough conversation about where we are and where we need to go, because I think we owe it to the people we serve to actually find that pathway forward,” Britt added. “There are so many things at stake.”
Some Democrats have also voiced pessimism that lawmakers will be able to come to a deal in the next eight days before the DHS shutdown deadline.
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman told the DCNF Wednesday that a deal will likely remain out of reach because there is not a ” Democratic appetite” to vote for ICE funding.
Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.Â
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