Axios Hill Leaders

February 11, 2026
Happy Tuesday! Tonight's edition is 883 words, 3.5 minutes.
- π New red lines
- π₯ Dems feel the heat
- π© Johnson's familiar predicament
1 big thing: π New red lines
Senate Democrats are drawing a preemptive red line on ICE reforms, telling us any sanctuary city crackdown is dead on arrival.
- "It's a nonstarter. The whole term is really misleading," Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said, adding that changes to state and local rules would "grant ICE even greater authority over local law enforcement."
Why it matters: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's rank-and-file are in no mood to let Republicans turn a debate about ICE's use of force into a conversation over the issue long championed by President Trump.
- "I know they're trying to change the conversation, but the issue is ICE's conduct," Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told us. "That's the issue before us, and we should not let them change the subject."
- "There aren't sanctuary cities in statute," Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said. "There are places where people have different levels of cooperation, and that's up to those localities β but there isn't a national sanctuary-city policy."
The other side: "These magnets of illegal immigration have to go," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week.
- "There is no upside to sanctuary cities unless you are a complete radical nutjob."
What we're hearing: Negotiations over a narrower set of ICE reforms could make it easier to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from shutting down Friday night.
- "There are certain red lines both sides won't negotiate on, but there are some things they will negotiate on β and that's where I think the potential deal space is," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters.
What's next: Thune moved this evening to set up a Thursday vote on the House-passed DHS bill. He can always swap in a short-term spending stopgap, if Democrats agree.
- Schumer signaled today he's willing to give negotiations some room to breathe β but he also wants to keep the pressure on the White House.
- "There's no reason we can't get this done by Thursday," Schumer told reporters. He did not rule out supporting a short-term spending bill.
- Thune hasn't ruled out scheduling votes on Friday, which would complicate some senators' plans to attend the Munich Security Conference.
β Stephen Neukam and Hans Nichols
2. π₯ Dems feel the heat
House Democrats are facing increasingly frustrated demands from their left flank not to give the Trump administration another inch on ICE funding.
- "Shut it down, shut it down, shut it down," Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told us, "and maybe, maybe, they'll take us serious and understand that we are unwilling to negotiate some minimal crap."
Zoom in: More than half a dozen progressive Democratic House candidates expressed frustration to us that House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly given Republicans the necessary votes to keep the government funded.
- Analilia Mejia, the presumptive Democratic nominee in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District special election, told us: "I think Democrats have leverage, and I urge us to use it to the fullest extent."
- "It's absolutely pathetic how much leverage we forfeit as a party," said Kat Abughazaleh, a candidate in Illinois' 9th District. "House Democrats gave up their leverage and with it a critical chance to protect people from DHS and ICE abuse."
Between the lines: For many of these candidates, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries didn't go far enough with their 10 proposed reforms to ICE.
- Nida Allam, running in North Carolina's 4th District, told us: "More half-solutions and empty promises from the establishment. ... When I'm in Washington, I'll accept nothing less than abolishing ICE completely."
- Similarly, Nate Blouin, a candidate in Utah's 1st District, said: "I don't think we can let this continue any longer. ... Longer term abolish ICE, shorter term I don't think we can continue any funding opportunities for that department."
βΒ Andrew Solender
3. π© Johnson's familiar predicament
A group of Republicans is set to stage a rebellion on the House floor tonight over leadership's move to block members from challenging Trump's tariffs.
Why it matters: It's a direct confrontation involving House Speaker Mike Johnson, his conference and the White House.
- GOP leadership still doesn't have the votes after delaying a 1:30pm vote to 8:30pm. It's been whipping votes all day, with help from White House officials.
- Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) have said they plan to vote against the rule in protest of the blockade on tariff disapproval resolutions.
Zoom in: Johnson, at the request of the White House, moved yesterday to include language in the rules package to bar tariff disapproval resolutions until July 31.
- House Democrats are prepared to tee up resolutions challenging Trump's tariffs on Canada tomorrow.
- Those Democratic-led resolutions would likely garner enough GOP support to pass, and would be viewed as a rebuke of Trump's economic agenda.
- Some House Republicans are becoming increasingly uneasy about defending Trump's tariffs β and continuing to cede their constitutional authority over trade.
The bottom line: "This isn't the purpose of a rule," Kiley told us today. "It's meant to bring a bill to the floor [and] set the parameters for debate. It's not meant to smuggle in unrelated provisions that expand the power of leadership at the expense of our members."
β Kate Santaliz
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich.
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