Congress was going to vote this upcoming week on a package of six funding bills, including money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to keep the government running after Friday’s shutdown deadline.
But the killing of Alex Pretti on Saturday by ICE has driven the Democrats over the edge into hysteria, with many now calling for the party to oppose the DHS funding bill until reforms of ICE are included.
“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, adding that he was going to vote “no.”
Congress has already passed funding for some agencies — including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Justice — but not for the largest departments, including the Pentagon and DHS.
Republicans need at least seven Democrats to vote for the package, including the DHS funding bill that includes money for ICE operations.”The Senate should reject the DHS funding bill next week until significant reforms are added to the bill. We need a complete overhaul,” Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) said in a post on X.
The chances of completing a “complete overhaul” of ICE before next Friday or anytime soon, for that matter, are nil. Democrats aren’t interested in reforming ICE, anyway. They wouldn’t know how, for one. They believe they have found a line of attack that would put them on the side of the angels in any government shutdown fight.
Meanwhile, it’s time for the Democrats to emote.
Americans are being killed in the street by their government. Our Constitution is being shredded and our rights are dissolving. Resist.
Senate Dems should block ICE funding this week. Activate the National Guard.
We can and must stop this.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 24, 2026
Now she wants to activate the National Guard. For what purpose, the hysterical AOC doesn’t say. Does she want the Minnesota National Guard to go to war against ICE agents? I’m sure she’ll think of something.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), in an X thread reacting to the shooting, exclaimed: “I am doing my best to respond to this without a string of expletives.”
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) urged colleagues to sign on to her articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) calling to “abolish ICE” and “impeach Kristi Noem.”
Many other Democrats released statements calling for the officers involved to be prosecuted and for ICE and CBP to leave Minneapolis.
The intrigue: It’s not just rank-and-file House Democrats pushing the envelope.
“The Senate must vote against funding CBP and ICE. The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement.
Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) called for Senate Democrats to “reject funding for ICE this coming week and demand an end to this madness.”
Democrats who had helped Majority Leader John Thune advance the last funding bill in March are all going to vote against the funding package that would avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the week.
“I am voting against any funding for DHS until and unless more controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in a statement Saturday. “These repeated incidents of violence across the country are unlawful, needlessly escalatory, and making all of us less safe.”
Schatz, along with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), is pledging not to fund DHS.
“I have the responsibility to hold the Trump Administration accountable when I see abuses of power — like we are seeing from ICE right now,” Rosen said on X. “That is why I’ll be voting against any government funding package that contains the bill that funds this agency, until we have guardrails in place to curtail these abuses of power and ensure more accountability and transparency.”
“Guardrails”? “Reforms”? How are those changes to ICE going to keep anti-ICE demonstrators from threatening and obstructing law enforcement engaged in their constitutionally mandated duties?
The shootings of civilians in Minneapolis are exactly what protest organizers and the people funding these demonstrations want. They train their cadres to “provoke” a response from law enforcement. Now they’ve got it, and soon, I expect, they will achieve their goal of forcing ICE to exit Minneapolis — either because the federal courts will force them out or because Trump temporarily withdraws to fight another day.
The Democrats are talking themselves into a constitutional crisis as they ratchet up their hysterical, anti-ICE rhetoric, terrifying the public and emboldening demonstrators. The fact that they may succeed does not bode well for the future of the republic.
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