Jan 15, 2026 - Politics & Policy

ICE reshapes the fight to avoid another government shutdown

This is the Senate GOP leadership — Senate GOP leaders at a press conference this week. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Jet fumes are hitting the Senate, which will only have a week when senators get back from recess on Jan. 26 to avoid a (partial) government shutdown.

Why it matters: Congress is making real headway on spending bills. But Democrats are demanding ICE reforms in the Department of Homeland Security funding bill, and a bipartisan deal may not be possible by month's end.

A "budget without any constraints on DHS isn't likely to get a lot of Democratic votes," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Thursday.
At least six or seven Dems will have to cross the aisle to avoid a shutdown.
Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have dismissed the idea of another shutdown after last fall's record-breaker.

Zoom in: Congress cleared the halfway point on appropriations bills Thursday after funding Commerce, Justice, Energy and the Interior, as well as NASA and the EPA.

Funding agencies is Congress' most basic job, and GOP leaders have been adamant about passing more regular appropriations bills.
Thune and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) both said a spending stopgap is the likely endgame to avoid a DHS shutdown, Semafor reports.

The bottom line: Murphy told reporters that a stopgap "doesn't fix any of the problems either," suggesting Dems wouldn't support an extension of current DHS funding levels.

But Schumer has been clear he thinks a shutdown is off the table, and a lapse in DHS funding would technically be a partial government shutdown.

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ICE reshapes the fight to avoid another government shutdown

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