Noem Agrees To Testify Before Congress as Moderate Senate Democrats Promise Blockade of Homeland Security Funding

Key Democratic senators known for their moderation and bipartisanship now say they will help blockade funding for the Department of Homeland Security at the end of this week. Republicans are also demanding the DHS officials testify, including Secretary Kristi Noem, who has agreed to appear before Congress. The killing of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti over the weekend immediately upended funding negotiations for DHS. Within hours, leading Senate Democrats — including Senator Chuck Schumer and the top lawmaker on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Patty Murray — declared that they and their colleagues would start throwing up roadblocks. On Mondays, several Democrats followed their lead. Those lawmakers who helped reopen the government in a bipartisan deal last year now say they cannot move forward. “Reform is urgently needed at the Department of Homeland Security, and their dishonest response to the death of a U.S. citizen only underscores that,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring and helped negotiate an end to the last shutdown, said in a statement Monday. “I will vote against DHS’s funding until additional reforms are in place.”“I will vote against proceeding with this week’s bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security because ICE needs to significantly change the way it is conducting itself — and Congress should be doing everything it can to make sure that happens,” Senator Maggie Hassan, another Democratic member who helped end the last shutdown, said Monday. Last year, eight Democrats voted with Republicans to advance to final passage of the bill to reopen the government. Senate rules require that 60 votes are needed to end debate and vote on the bill, which requires only a simple majority. Of the eight Democrats who voted to end the shutdown last year, seven now say they will not vote to proceed to final passage later this week. The final member of that eight-member bloc, Senator John Fetterman, says he opposes the funding legislation as currently written, which included six separate bills to keep the government funding through the end of the year. He says he believes the DHS portion of the spending package must be separated out so that senators can reach a bipartisan agreement. “I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change,” Mr. Fetterman said Monday, calling on Republicans to break off the DHS funding bill from the larger agreement. He proclaimed, however, that he would “never” vote to shut the government down, implying that if Republicans do not strip the DHS funding bill from this week’s legislation, he is still likely to support moving to final passage. He also said it is “unlikely” Democrats will get what they want, and that a shutdown seems likely. Mr. Fetterman also pointed to the fact that ICE has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, meaning that shutting down DHS will not result in ICE ceasing operations. It isn’t just Democrats who are demanding some concessions from Ms. Noem and her department. Senator Rand Paul, who is the chairman of the committee which oversees DHS, is demanding Ms. Noem’s deputies appear before his committee in the coming weeks. Dr. Paul has said he opposes the DHS funding bill because it adds billions of dollars to ICE’s budget on top of the tens of billions of dollars allocated for the agency last year. In letters to the heads of ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies on Monday, Dr. Paul asked DHS leadership to respond by Wednesday to his request that they testify before his committee in the coming weeks. “Congress has an obligation to conduct oversight of those tax dollars and ensure the funding is used to accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement, and, most importantly, protect the American people,” Dr. Paul wrote. The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Andrew Garbarino — a Long Island Republican — has also asked immigration officials to testify publicly for his committee in either February or March.

Noem Agrees To Testify Before Congress as Moderate Senate Democrats Promise Blockade of Homeland Security Funding

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