XPost: alt.politics.democrats.senate, pa.politics, alt.politics.republicans   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.law-enforcement   
   From: pkrugman@soros.org   
      
   A shutdown for the Department of Homeland Security appeared certain   
   Thursday as lawmakers in the House and Senate were set to leave   
   Washington for a 10-day break and negotiations with the White House over   
   Democrats' demands for new restrictions had stalled.   
      
   Pennsylvania's John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote in favor of   
   advancing a bill that would have provided a year's worth of funding to   
   the agency. By a vote of 52 to 47, the bill failed to meet a 60-vote   
   margin required to move forward. That made a Friday-night shutdown of   
   numerous DHS agencies, including those that oversee airline safety and   
   emergency relief efforts, all but certain.   
      
   Fetterman's vote came as little surprise: He has long said he opposes   
   bills that would shut down the government. And while he has previously   
   said that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem should resign, he has generally   
   refrained from sharply criticizing federal immigration officers, instead   
   praising their work to secure the border.   
      
   Fetterman's office did not respond to a WESA request for comment on his   
   vote. But prior to the vote, he briefly took part in a Senate committee   
   hearing to discuss the issue with DHS officials.   
      
   Fetterman noted that the 2025 "Big Beautiful Bill" contained $75 billion   
   in funding for the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.   
      
   "That vote to shut DHS down will have no functional impact on ICE   
   because they have that $75 billion for the big beautiful bill," he said.   
   But the vote against funding would mean "you're going to punish all of   
   these other parts — the very important parts — of our government," such   
   as the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and   
   cybersecurity operations.   
      
   Fetterman has generally refused to join other Democrats in criticizing   
   the tactics of federal immigration officers, even in the wake of fatal   
   shootings of American citizens by those officers in Minneapolis. He has   
   also been silent about the detention of immigrants who have settled into   
   communities in Western Pennsylvania, while his Republican colleague,   
   Dave McCormick, has acknowledged that there are concerns about the   
   moves.   
      
   During Thursday's committee hearing, Fetterman did express some concern   
   that the tactics seen in Minneapolis "makes the public unsafe, the   
   agents unsafe. ... I think they've lost the plot," when they should   
   focus on border security and immigrants with criminal records. But he   
   also faulted left-leaning critics of Noem, faulting them for "sexist   
   terms like 'ICE Barbie,'" and saying that Democrats were "failing on the   
   border" under former President Joe Biden.   
      
   Democrats and the White House have traded offers in recent days as the   
   Democrats have said they want curbs on President Donald Trump’s broad   
   campaign of immigration enforcement. They have demanded better   
   identification for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other   
   federal law enforcement officers, a new code of conduct for those   
   agencies and more use of judicial warrants, among other requests.   
      
   The White House sent its latest proposal late Wednesday, but Trump told   
   reporters on Thursday that some of the Democratic demands would be   
   “very, very hard to approve.”   
      
   Democrats said the White House offer, which was not made public, did not   
   include sufficient curbs on ICE after two protesters were fatally shot   
   last month. The offer was “not serious,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck   
   Schumer of New York said Thursday, after the Senate rejected a bill to   
   fund the department.   
      
   Americans want accountability and “an end to the chaos,” Schumer said.   
   “The White House and congressional Republicans must listen and deliver.”   
      
   Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice to return to Washington if the   
   two sides struck a deal to end the expected shutdown. Sen. Patty Murray,   
   the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters   
   that Democrats would send the White House a counterproposal over the   
   weekend.   
      
   Impact of a shutdown   
   Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after the vote that a   
   shutdown appeared likely and “the people who are not going to be getting   
   paychecks" will pay the price.   
      
      
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