Congress

Congress has 10 days to cut a DHS funding deal. Don’t hold your breath.

Published

9 months ago

February 4, 2026

Congress has 10 days to prevent another shutdown — this one exclusively affecting the Department of Homeland Security. There’s not much optimism about a deal.

At issue is one of the thorniest issues in national politics — federal immigration enforcement, including new guardrails for agencies and repercussions for the local jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with them.

Already, Republicans are rejecting central demands from Democrats, including tightening warrant requirements and banning federal agents from wearing masks. Democrats are pouring cold water on a GOP push to target so-called “sanctuary cities.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned Tuesday that getting an agreement to President Donald Trump’s desk by the new Feb. 13 deadline is an “impossibility.”

“We’ve got a very short timeframe in which to do this, which I argued against,” he said, referring to his opposition to the two-week DHS punt Democrats insisted on.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, said Tuesday that another short-term patch was “off the table” for Democrats.

Together those comments portend a potentially lengthy shutdown that would disproportionately impact the DHS functions that don’t involve immigration enforcement, including TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard. That’s because agencies like ICE and Border Patrol that have been at the center of the Democratic uproar received funding through the domestic policy megabill Republicans enacted in July.

That reality had a critical mass of Senate Democrats ready to swallow full-year DHS funding last month that held agency budgets flat and passed the House with only seven Democratic votes. But that plan evaporated on Jan. 24, when DHS agents killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis and sparked bipartisan calls for new strictures on the Trump administration.

Thune and other Republicans are already warning that they believe they will need to buy more time after the Feb. 13 deadline. Negotiations over an immigration enforcement deal have largely been on hold, according to several senators, as the House wrestled with the larger spending package that finally passed Tuesday.

So far, Republicans and Democrats can’t even agree on who will be doing the negotiating. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is putting the onus on Thune. But Thune and other Republicans believe any viable deal will need to be negotiated primarily by the White House while keeping congressional Republicans “engaged.”

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said Tuesday that a deal would be difficult “without Trump deciding to drag Republicans in a direction that is normally uncomfortable for them.”

“But that’s different from John Thune just declaring that he’s out,” he added. “The majority leader can’t take himself out of the negotiation.”

A lengthy DHS shutdown could be uncomfortable quickly for both parties. While ICE and Customs and Border Protection would largely have a free hand to continue immigration enforcement, the Coast Guard and TSA would lose their appropriations — potentially snarling airports and threatening paychecks for an entire military branch. The Secret Service and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would also be affected.

Plenty of members are skeptical there will be a deal at all, given Congress’ perennial struggle to reach an agreement on anything even tangentially related to immigration.

“I have to say that I’m a little skeptical of this entire enterprise,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said. “I’m a little skeptical of the entire project here of trying to lard up an appropriations bill that funds critical agencies with a whole bunch of statutory restrictions.”

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) said of the incipient negotiation, “I can’t say it feels like good faith.”

Democrats have outlined several key demands for any negotiations and are expected to formally present a proposal “very shortly,” according to Schumer.

But while Republicans have expressed openness to some of the Democratic proposals, such as body cameras and deescalation training, there is broad opposition to requiring immigration officers to obtain judicial warrants instead of administrative warrants before seeking apprehensions. Many, including Speaker Mike Johnson, also oppose requiring federal agents to remove masks, arguing it would be a possible safety threat.

“I can tell you that we are never going to go along with adding an entirely new layer of judicial warrants,” Johnson said Tuesday. “It is unimplementable. It cannot be done, and it should not be done. It’s not necessary.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing for language cracking down on “sanctuary cities” that don’t comply with ICE and CBP to be included in any agreement that includes new restrictions on those agencies. Other Republicans are mulling trying to attach bigger immigration provisions, including increasing penalties for immigrants who cross the border illegally or re-enter the country illegally.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) used an Oval Office bill signing with Trump Tuesday to make his pitch for a sanctuary cities crackdown as part of any negotiation to extend DHS funding.

“If you want a debate on how to solve this problem, show up next week,” he said.

Trump encouraged the push: “I hope you’re going to press that very hard,” he told Graham.

But the policies Graham and other Republicans are proposing — such as imposing criminal penalties on state and local officials who “willfully interfere” with immigration enforcement — have long been a nonstarter for Democrats.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said it already would be “difficult” to get his caucus to support another funding punt, noting that roughly half of his Democratic colleagues already voted against the last spending package.

And trying to link sanctuary cities to the debate over immigration enforcement tactics, Durbin added, is “not realistic.”

“There’s so many different versions of sanctuary law in these communities and states,” he said. “What we’re talking about is funding this agency, but making sure there are reforms before funding.”

Other Senate Democrats who voted for the spending deal last week — including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee — are already warning that Republicans shouldn’t count on their votes again for another punt.

Another senior Democratic appropriator, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said she believed there was enough time to get a deal if negotiators were “committed.”

“But it would help if they start negotiating,” Shaheen said.

Congress

Turner, Hudson among the latest GOP losers as Democrats reach 250 seats in the House

Published

5 minutes ago

November 5, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), a longtime lawmaker and former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker, The Associated Press projected Thursday afternoon, the latest Republican in red territory to be overwhelmed by this week’s blue wave.

That result, alongside National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson’s (R-N.C.) defeat to Richard Ojeda in North Carolina, has vaulted Democrats over 250 seats in the House for the first time since the 2008 election.

Hudson — who had already conceded defeat Wednesday — is the second party committee chair to go down in recent years. Then-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Sean Patrick Maloney lost in 2022 to Republican Mike Lawler.

(Lawler also lost Tuesday.)

The AP also projected that two more Republican incumbents — Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) — also lost amid a massive blue wave, as voters vent their frustrations with President Donald Trump, inflation and the ongoing war in Iran.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) did, however, manage to hang onto her seat — just barely. Trump cruised in her district by more than 13 points in 2024. She won by fewer than 3,000 votes.

Congress

Democrats continue midterm blowout, picking up seats in North Carolina, Virginia and Arizona

Published

2 hours ago

November 5, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats have extended their midterm dominance in North Carolina, notching four more victories — including three flips — in districts affected by Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push last year.

Democrats Cyril Jefferson, Paul Barringer and Lakesha Womack upset incumbent Republican Reps. Addison McDowell, Brad Knott and Tim Moore, respectively. Elsewhere in the state, two-term Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) defeated Republican Laurie Buckhout in the state’s redrawn 1st District. Democrats have now won eight House seats in North Carolina and could still win two more, despite an October 2025 map redraw that favored Republicans in 11 of the state’s 14 seats.

The wins reinforce Democrats’ yawning House majority, which the party secured relatively early Tuesday, as voters punish President Donald Trump and the GOP for sky-high prices and the continued war in Iran.

Davis’ redrawn district favored Trump by more than 11 points in 2024, and he currently leads it by 10,000 votes with 1% of the vote left to count.

The party flipped several more high-profile seats in other states, The Associated Press projected Thursday, with physician Amish Shah besting former NFL kicker Jay Feely in Arizona’s open 1st District. Democrats have long coveted the suburban Phoenix seat, held in recent years by GOP Rep. David Schweikert.

In Virginia, Democratic prosecutor Shannon Taylor flipped a district represented by GOP Rep. Rob Wittman since 2007.

Sam Forstag, a former smokejumper, became the first Democrat to win a House seat in Montana in decades, claiming victory in a district the president won by nearly 12 points two years ago.

Republicans were still able to hold a handful of seats in longtime ruby-red territory, albeit by significantly smaller margins than expected. New York GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota scraped victories in their Long Island districts. So too did Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.), John McGuire (R-Va.) and Blake Moore (R-Utah).

Congress

Steve Scalise tells GOP chairs to prep for Democratic investigations

Published

2 hours ago

November 5, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told GOP committee chairs Thursday to steel themselves for upcoming Democratic investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration and other targets.

“Although they ran on affordability, it is clear the main focus of their new majority will be retribution and unleashing countless witch hunts under the guise of ‘oversight,’” he said of Democrats in the letter obtained by POLITICO.

Scalise told the chairs to take “inventory” of the investigations they believe Democrats could launch under their committees’ jurisdiction and identify administration officials who could be targets.

He also warned Democrats have “signaled they intend to impeach President Trump, but they will not stop there.” He also noted that Democrats are expected to target Trump’s family, cabinet officials and key allies.

“You all will be a key line of defense in this fight, and we must maximize our remaining days in power to prepare for what is coming,” Scalise said in the letter.

The Louisiana Republican is currently in a battle with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan — known for his oversight and investigations experience — to take over as top GOP leader next Congress. Jordan is arguing to members he is best prepared to counter Democrats, calling himself “battle-tested on the oversight front” in his letter to colleagues.