WASHINGTON — The federal government is barreling toward another shutdown this week, as Democrats threaten to block a must-pass funding bill over the fatal shooting of an armed Minnesota man by immigration authorities.
The killing of Alex Pretti during a confrontation over immigration enforcement on the streets of Minneapolis Saturday has emboldened Democrats’ opposition to the package slated for a Senate vote before funding expires Friday at midnight.
Even some who helped pass the bills through the House have now expressed misgivings about its spending for the Department of Homeland Security — including moderate Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi.
“I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] in Minneapolis,” Suozzi said in a statement just days after joining with six other Democrats and House Republicans to pass the measure.
But the tragedy has also diminished some GOP support for President Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in the Land of 10,000 Lakes — and led to calls for greater congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
Both chairmen tasked with that oversight — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) — have called for public testimony from DHS officials.
Other Republicans have suggested ICE should withdraw from Minneapolis and rebuked a “rush to judgment” on the incident from Trump administration officials.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday that Pretti “came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation” and “committed an act of domestic terrorism.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller called the 37-year-old, who worked as an ICU nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal law enforcement.”
Congressional Republicans have urged caution about such statements before an internal investigation into the shooting concludes, with Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) calling Noem’s response “premature” and blaming the DHS boss for having “weakened” Americans’ confidence in federal law enforcement.
But Democrats have cited Pretti’s death as proof of the need for a partial government shutdown, demanding that DHS funding be stripped from the broader House-passed appropriations package — including two senators who helped end an unprecedented, 43-day halt to federal functions last year.
One of those senators, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, said Monday that he “reject[s] calls to defund or abolish ICE” but backs pulling DHS spending for the “ungovernable and dangerous” actions of officers, urging his colleagues to instead vote on five other bills to keep the government mostly open.
“It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown,” Fetterman warned. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has already come out as a firm “no” vote.
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, another Democrat who voted to reopen the government last November, agreed and said 96% of the budget had already been agreed to on a bipartisan basis.
But the whole package was also worked through by House and Senate appropriations leaders from both parties, one senior GOP aide stressed to The Post.
“If Democrats back out of the current bipartisan funding deal, why would they expect Republicans to renegotiate?” the aide said.
US Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some agents were also ordered out of Minneapolis later Monday in a concession that may give Democrats such as Fetterman enough breathing room to back DHS funding.
“Hopefully Senate Democrats, who are actively engaged in conversations, can find a path forward to join us before this week’s funding deadline hits,” said a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).
Senate Republicans, who have a 53-vote majority, also expressed zero interest in breaking up the six-bill package, which will need Democratic support to break the 60-vote filibuster.
Trump also dispatched border czar Tom Homan to work through disagreements with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after having what he described as a “good” calls with both.
DHS officials have previously blamed Frey — who presides over a so-called “sanctuary” city — and Walz for failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and putting “nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens” back on the streets, where some have gone on to commit more crimes.
“I encourage local officials in Minnesota to work with the administration to keep communities safe and continue the important work of enforcing our laws and getting dangerous criminals off of America’s streets,” Thune said Monday, without indicating support for splitting up spending bills.
Homeland Security Investigations is still reviewing body camera video footage of the immigration officers whom Pretti confronted amid mass deportations — and anti-ICE protests — in Minnesota’s largest city.
Video footage shows one officer shouting “gun” and grabbing what authorities later said was a loaded Sig Sauer pistol from Pretti after he got in their faces and a scuffle ensued, with officers seeking to arrest the nurse and bringing him to the ground.
One officer then walked away with the Sig P320 in hand while another swiftly got up and fired multiple rounds into the nurse. It’s unclear if the handgun misfired while in the officer’s custody. Pretti died at the scene.
On Jan. 7, an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, as she accelerated her vehicle in the officer’s direction as part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis.
The FBI conducted an initial review of that incident, and agents from the bureau are also assisting in a probe of the Pretti slaying. State authorities are looking into Good’s death. Democrats and Republicans have also called for independent investigations of both shootings.
Suozzi, one of seven House Democrats last week who approved DHS funding for fiscal year 2026, called the killings “watershed moments in our nation’s history.”
The spending bills narrowly passed the House in a 220-207 vote, with a total of $64.4 billion in funding for DHS. Democrats on the Appropriations Committee previously boasted of having reduced ICE spending by $115 million and Border Patrol spending by $1.8 billion in the measure.
Read the full article here
