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By Andrew Stanton
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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer faced a wave of progressive backlash over a bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security and avert a government shutdown.
Newsweek reached out to Schumer’s office for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The Trump administration has faced growing scrutiny over its immigration approach amid heightened U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota. Tensions reached a boiling point over recent weeks after federal officers fatally shot two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Democrats have called for lawmakers to refuse to provide funding to ICE as Congress has considered a series of bills to fund the federal government.
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What to Know
A bill funding DHS and other parts of the government passed the House of Representatives with support from a handful of centrist Democrats but faced the possibility of stalling in the Senate over the fatal shooting of Pretti by a U.S. federal agent. Some Democratic senators had said they would not support ICE funding without safeguards to rein in the agency.
However, Senate Democrats reached a deal with the White House to temporarily provide DHS funding as they continue negotiations. The deal would fund DHS for two weeks while debate continues on provisions supported by Democrats aimed at reforming ICE, The Associated Press reported.
That deal, however, has drawn backlash from some progressives who argued Schumer, representing New York in the Senate, caved on DHS funding. Schumer faced a tsunami of Democratic backlash last March after he declined to block a Republican-led stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown.
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Progressives have argued elected Democrats have not done enough to push back against President Donald Trump, but others note that they wield little political influence because they hold the minority in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
“Schumer caved,” progressive commentator Wajahat Ali wrote in a post to X. “Congrats ICE and MAGA.”
Emma Vigeland, a co-host of The Majority Report, called Schumer a “fascist collaborator” in response to the deal.
“Whether it's weakness, ideology, corruption, or all three, will be determined by historians. Funding DHS for two weeks 1) advantages Republicans by letting the national mood cool, and 2) shows that you find ICE too essential to let funds lapse,” she wrote.
MoveOn Civic Action spokesperson Britt Jacovich also criticized the deal in a statement.
“Leader Schumer should ask the Minnesotans who are watching their neighbors get killed in cold blood if a deal with no plan to stop ICE is enough right now,” Jacovich wrote.
Democrats have said ICE reforms would be needed to secure their support on a DHS funding bill.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said in a post to X conditions would require an end to “roving patrols” and require agents to have specific warrants for arrests, requiring officers to wear identification and body cameras, independent investigations into recent agent shootings, an end to “mission creep” and keeping DHS out of schools and churches.
“It makes no sense to provide DHS with additional funding unless we get these reforms,” Murphy said.
Trump has supported the deal.
“Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before). Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote,” he wrote to Truth Social Thursday night.
Notably, ICE received $75 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so it is not clear that a shutdown would have curtailed their operations despite support from some Democrats.
Alex Pretti Shooting Drew More ICE Scrutiny
Demands for Democrats to block DHS funding grew after the shooting off Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse in Minneapolis on January 24.
Some Trump administration officials, like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, have faced swift criticism for their rhetoric about Pretti. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says Pretti "approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun." However, videos verified by various news outlets appear to show Pretti was holding a phone in his right hand, with nothing in his left hand, before he was shot.
Pretti was legally carrying a handgun at the time of his death. Records reflect no serious criminal history, according to authorities and public documents cited by local media.
The shooting came just weeks after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, also in Minneapolis.
What People Are Saying
Aaron Regunberg, a Democratic organizer, wrote to X: “Great f****** work, @SenSchumer. No big deal, just an entire American city you’re telling to get reckt. Americans, Democrats, and Renee Good and Alex Pretti deserve so much better. Chuck Schumer must resign.
The progressive group Climate Defiance wrote to X: “Chuck Schumer is a complete, total and utter joke. Fascists are pounding at the door, and yet he cowers and caves. He is no longer fit to serve as Senate Minority Leader. He must step down or be replaced.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday: “Americans by and large, support law enforcement, I do, and most people support border security. I do as well. But Americans do not support ICE terrorizing our streets, operating outside the law, killing American citizens. The madness and the violence must end. Congress must act to rein in ICE and end the violence. Rein in ICE and end the violence. The American people deserve nothing less.”
What Happens Next
The Senate could vote on the agreement on Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to a timeline, as the House is currently in recess. Lawmakers are working on a swift passage to avoid widespread disruptions.
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