Minneapolis Shooting Sets Stage For Government Shutdown Unless Republicans Cave On DHS

With Congress already veering towards a shutdown this Friday after Senate Democrats vowed to oppose funding DHS in a six-bill spending package, yesterday’s killing of a 37-year-old Minneapolis man by federal agents all but cemented it – unless Republicans are willing to cave. 

In a Saturday night statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Democrats won’t advance the bill as long as it includes DHS funding. The package requires Democratic support to clear a 60-vote hurdle. 

“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” said Schumer, adding that he’s personally a ‘no.’

Following Saturday’s shooting, several Democratic senators who previously voted to advance government funding measures flipped, and now oppose the package unless DHS – and therefore funding for ICE and Border Patrol – is stripped.

Please note: @DHSgov org chart dated 2023 (link below) includes @uscoastguard @fema @TSA @CISAgov @SecretService etc.https://t.co/NooJ0vXutz pic.twitter.com/8s1iKTZjlO

— One American (@1silveramerican) January 25, 2026

“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-HI) in a Saturday statement on X. “I am voting against any funding for DHS until and unless more controls are put in place to hold ICE accountable.”

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) – who voted to end the shutdown in November – also announced on Saturday that they will oppose the DHS funding bill, Politico reports.

“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.”

The DHS bill passed the House Thursday 220-207, with only seven Democrats voting for it. But Republican House leaders merged it with five other bills funding the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services and State, among others, sending it to the Senate as one package.

More than half of the 47-member Democratic caucus has already vowed to oppose the package, many before Saturday’s shooting. And that number is growing as Democrats’ re-evaluate the legislation in the wake of the shooting and as they face pressure from House Democrats and their Senate colleagues, not to mention outside voices close to the party base. -Politico

Following the shooting, government shutdown odds surged on Polymarket, and are now at 76%.

Meanwhile, there’s this…

You can’t announce you are abolishing the Department of Education and then pressure conservatives to vote to fund it at the FULL Biden level WITH a Dem rider PREVENTING transfer of those funds. This is a game. https://t.co/lglQZjGwrB pic.twitter.com/8SofrNZdvq

— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) January 23, 2026