Ed Markey pushes Democratic leaders to advocate defunding ICE
Sen. Ed markey (D‑Mass.) urged Senate Democrats to reject funding for the department of Homeland security this week, pressing colleagues to defund and abolish ICE after recent controversies and the deaths of two U.S. citizens during ICE‑related operations. Markey posted a video on X calling DHS “a lawless organization” and saying Democrats should not send “one penny more” to the agency. DHS appropriations are part of a six‑bill package that must pass by Friday to keep multiple agencies funded; Markey and other Democrats are conditioning support on ICE reforms or outright elimination, while many democrats stop short of abolition.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has been negotiating with the White House on reforms and is reportedly considering splicing DHS funding out of the package so the other five appropriations bills can pass and a short stopgap for DHS be enacted to avoid a wider shutdown. Even if short‑term DHS funding lapses, ICE retains access to billions from last summer’s megabill, and lawmakers face the tradeoff of protecting agencies such as the TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, Transportation, HUD, and HHS from funding lapses while seeking changes to immigration enforcement.
Ed Markey pushes Democratic leaders to advocate defunding ICE in government funding negotiations
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) urged Democratic colleagues in the upper chamber on Wednesday to oppose a measure funding the Department of Homeland Security.
The appropriations for DHS, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are part of a six-bill package lawmakers must vote on by Friday evening to keep multiple federal agencies funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. The DHS funding has become a matter of sweeping debate due to the controversy that has enveloped the agency after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota during ICE-related operations and protests.
“DHS funding runs out this week. We cannot, and we must not vote to send a single nickel to this lawless organization of thugs while Trump’s secret police are terrorizing our communities every day,” Markey said in a video posted to X.
“Right now, Democrats have the power to defund and abolish ICE. We should do it,” he added. “Anyone who supports funding DHS and ICE is supporting the murder of Americans. We can stop this. Not one penny more for the Department of Homeland Security.”
Markey is among a host of Senate Democrats who have refused to back funding DHS unless the Trump administration agrees to a number of reforms for ICE, or includes legislative provisions in the appropriations legislation mandating those reforms. But his call to outright abolish ICE sets him apart from many of his Senate colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Schumer has been in fairly productive talks with the White House about ICE reforms, as a partial government shutdown looms due to stonewalling on DHS funding, according to reports. Lawmakers are staring down a Friday evening cutoff to either renew funding or allow it to lapse. In the case of ICE, even if funding is not renewed before the weekend, it can fall back on billions in new funding allocated to the agency in a megabill passed into law last summer.
But funding for multiple other government agencies, including the departments of War, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Health and Human Services, is also at risk of lapsing if Democrats sideline the appropriations legislation, a scenario Schumer appears amenable to avoiding.
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The compromise Schumer and President Donald Trump are eying would splice off DHS funding from the legislation, giving lawmakers the green light to pass funding for the remaining five federal agencies, per Punchbowl News. Under the possible deal, Congress would also pass a stopgap measure allowing for a short-term extension of funding for homeland security operations.
Doing so would allow more time for negotiations to take place on ICE reforms, while also preventing an interruption of services by the Transportation Security Agency, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the New York Times.
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