Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is casting doubt on Congress ability to keep the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funded, underscoring a growing divide inside his own party over immigration enforcement and the future of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to Conservative Daily News, Fetterman told the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) that Democrats on Capitol Hill are unlikely to back either another short-term funding patch for DHS that maintains ICE spending or a full-year agreement. Lawmakers now face a tight, nine-day window to avert a partial shutdown of the department, which oversees the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and federal immigration enforcement, ahead of a Feb. 13 deadline.
At this point, there may not be a Democratic appetite to vote for ICE [funding], Fetterman told the DCNF, while noting that he supports some changes to how immigration laws are enforced. His comments highlight the political bind for Democrats who want to appease an increasingly vocal progressive base without openly embracing policies that could be seen as soft on border security.
Fetterman, who has often distanced himself from the far-left wing of his party, made clear that he does not support the radical calls from some Democrats to dismantle ICE altogether. I strongly reject this Abolish ICE and some of the extremism about that, Fetterman continued, warning that the slogans resurgence among progressives could once again damage the partys credibility.
Weve [Democrats] been there before. They scream about it, and then they have to back away and disavow those views, he added, alluding to previous election cycles in which hard-left rhetoric on immigration became a liability. His remarks underscore a broader concern among more moderate Democrats that the partys activist base is pushing an agenda out of step with voters who want secure borders and the rule of law.
Congress recently passed a five-bill appropriations package along with a two-week extension of DHS funding at current levels, a measure President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday. Nearly all House Democrats and about half of Senate Democrats opposed the short-term patch, even though they had demanded the extra two weeks to negotiate immigration enforcement terms with the White House.
Top Republicans have already rejected several Democratic proposals to weaken federal immigration enforcement, including new warrant requirements and bans on officers wearing masks. From the GOP perspective, these demands look less like reform and more like an attempt to hamstring ICE and other enforcement arms at a time of ongoing border and national security concerns.
Democrats, for their part, have also turned down another temporary funding measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), that would keep DHS operating beyond the Feb. 13 cutoff. Theres no chance of my support for that, Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, one of 23 Senate Democrats who voted Friday for the two-week DHS funding extension, told the DCNF.
Despite the looming deadline, Democratic leaders have yet to present Republicans with a concrete list of proposed immigration enforcement reforms. Were going to have tough, strong legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a Wednesday press conference, even as his caucus rejected a proposal from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to criminalize state and local officials who enforce sanctuary policies that shield illegal immigrants.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that the calendar alone makes a comprehensive DHS funding deal by mid-February highly unlikely. Thune also accused top Democrats on Wednesday of slow-walking negotiations over DHS and immigration enforcement as the shutdown clock ticks down.
He and, for that matter, Leader Schumer, both are afraid of their shadows, and theyre getting a lot of blowback and pressure from their left, Thune told reporters, referring to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer. So, I dont think they want to particularly in [Jeffries] case, I dont think he wants to make a deal at all. I think he wants the issue.
Republicans previously delivered a $75 billion cash infusion to ICE for detention and removal operations in Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025, meaning a DHS shutdown would fall hardest on the departments non-immigration functions. In practice, ICEs core enforcement activities would likely continue largely uninterrupted, even during a prolonged lapse in DHS appropriations.
Yet some Democrats appear prepared to tolerate, or even welcome, a shutdown as a symbolic stand against immigration enforcement, despite the reality that ICE would remain operational. This is not an agency that the systems of accountability theyre talking about will rectify the problems that Americans are seeing, which is that they violate our civil rights with impunity, Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker told the DCNF.
We have a serious, serious problem that has to be addressed in a much more comprehensive way, Booker added, echoing the lefts narrative that ICE is inherently abusive rather than an essential law-enforcement tool. With Democrats divided between activists who want to cripple immigration enforcement and moderates like Fetterman who warn against extremism, Republicans are positioning themselves as the only party willing to keep DHS funded, ICE empowered and the nations borders and security apparatus functioning as intended.
Login