WASHINGTON (AP) โ As a partial government shutdown looms at weekโs end, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has laid out a list of demands for the Department of Homeland Security, including an enforceable code of conduct for federal agents conducting immigration arrests and a requirement that they identify themselves to the public.
Republicans will need Democratic votes to keep the government open when funding runs at midnight Friday. But Democrats haveย pledged to block a spending bill for the department, hoping to pressure the GOP and President Donald Trump for major change at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies as theย country reelsย from theย deaths of two peopleย at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
Democratic senators met on Wednesday before a crucial Thursday vote on whether to move forward with the spending legislation that funds DHS and a swath of other government agencies. Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to โend roving patrolsโ in cities, coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, spell out an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules, and require that agents have โmasks off, body cameras onโ and carry proper identification, as is common practice in law enforcement.
The Democratic caucus is united in those โcommonsense reformsโ and that the burden is on Republicans to accept them, the New York senator said.
โThis is not law and order,โ Schumer said, referring to the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge across the country. “This is chaos.โ
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he was waiting for Democrats to outline their what they want and he suggested that they need to be talking to the White House.
It was unclear how seriously the White House was engaged and whether the two sides could agree on anything that would appease Democrats who are irate afterย federal agentsย fatally shotย Alex Prettiย andย Renee Goodย this month.
With no evident negotiations underway, a partial shutdown appeared increasingly likely starting Saturday.
Democrats lay out demands
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said Democrats have been looking at changes that will โunite the caucus, and I think unite the country,โ including ending the โroving patrolsโ that Democrats say are terrorizing Americans around the country.
โNone of this is revolutionary,โ said Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees homeland security spending. โNone of this requires a new comprehensive piece of legislation.โ
Schumer and Murphy have said any fixes should be passed by Congress, not just promised by the administration.
Republicans say any changes to the spending will need to be passed by the House to prevent a shutdown, and that is not likely to happen in time because the House is not in legislative session this week.
โWe can have conversations about what additional oversight is required, what additional laws we should consider, but not at the expense of shutting down the government,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Many obstacles to a deal
Despite some conversations among Democrats, Republicans and the White House, it was unclear whether there could be a resolution in time to avoid a partial shutdown.
The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, and that makes it difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats are demanding. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators, which would be complicated, or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.
It was unclear whether Trump will weigh in.
Republican leaders had hoped to avoid another shutdown after last fallโs 43-day closure that revolved around Democratsโ insistence on extending federal subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Even if the Senate could resolve the issue, House Republicans have made clear they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.
โThe package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,โ according to the letter.
Democrats say they wonโt back down.
โIt is truly a moral moment,โ said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. โI think we need to take a stand.โ
