Trump And Senate Dems Strike Shutdown Deal

Update (0950ET): President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats struck a deal to avert a prolonged shutdown for most of the federal government. 

The deal will fund all of the government except DHS until September. DHS, meanwhile, will receive funding for two weeks while lawmakers negotiate changes following public outrage over two shootings in Minneapolis by ICE agents.

“If Republicans don’t do s— for two weeks, DHS shuts down and there’s little incentive for us to reopen without the guardrails on ICE,” a Democratic aide told NBC News. 

While the Senate is aiming to vote today, it still needs to pass through the House – which returns to Washington on Monday, before it can be sent to Trump’s desk for his signature. 

This means that funding will temporarily lapse for several agencies starting tomorrow (ahem). 

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The odds of a government shutdown have surged back up to 70% (according to prediction markets), after a bipartisan deal brokered by President Donald Trump and Senate leaders to avert a partial government shutdown ran into trouble late on Jan. 29 as objections from lawmakers prevented a quick vote.

The Senate had been hoping to vote Thursday night on a government funding package after leaders struck an agreement earlier in the day and Trump publicly endorsed it. The effort stalled after at least one senator objected, forcing leaders to delay consideration until Friday.

Leaving the Capitol just before midnight Thursday after hours of negotiations, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters there were “snags on both sides” as he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) worked to clear objections ahead of a Friday midnight deadline.

“Hopefully, people will be of the spirit to try and get this done tomorrow,” Thune said as the Senate was scheduled to reconvene on Friday.

As Tom Ozimek details below via The Epoch Times,the delay came after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) placed a hold on the package, blocking the unanimous consent needed to fast-track the vote. Graham pointed to language in the bill that would repeal the so-called Arctic Frost provision that would allow senators to sue if their phone records were collected as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe.

Smith’s investigation, codenamed Arctic Frost, was opened on the premise that it was criminal of the Trump campaign to arrange alternative sets of electors in states where the campaign was challenging the 2020 election results.

As part of the probe, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, under President Joe Biden, pursued sensitive and private information related to political opponents, including Trump, his advisers and attorneys, Congressional Republicans, and a handful of conservative groups. The investigation was dropped after Trump was elected to a second term in the White House.

“What senator wouldn’t want notification that they’re looking at your phone?” Graham said on Jan. 28, according to The Hill.

“I fixed the problem that people had. I’m not going to ignore what happened. If you were abused, you think you were abused, your phone records were illegally seized—you should have your day in court. Every senator should want to make sure this never happens again.”

Graham also signaled that he had an issue with the lack of full-year funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 3, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“The cops need us right now,” he said. “They’re being demonized. They’re being spat upon. They can’t sleep at night.“

While Thune told reporters that there were hang-ups on both sides of the aisle, Schumer laid the blame for the delay squarely on Republicans.

“Republicans need to get their act together,” he told reporters as he left Capitol Hill for the night late Thursday.

DHS Funding Split Off After Deal

The snag came hours after the White House and Senate Democrats announced a deal under which Senate Democrats would provide the votes to pass five House-passed spending bills that fully fund the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. Full-year funding for DHS would be removed from the bill and replaced with two-week funding to allow more time for negotiations over immigration enforcement policy.

Democrats have vowed to oppose full-year funding for DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents.

Democrats have laid out their demands for supporting the larger DHS funding package.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Schumer said on Jan. 28 that Democrats want “an end to roving patrols” of ICE agents in U.S. cities, while calling for a solution that would require warrants and coordination with local and state law enforcement.

Schumer also said Democrats want “to enforce accountability,” with the Senate Democratic leader adding that “federal agents should be held to the same use-of-force policies that apply to state and local law enforcement, and be held accountable when they violate these rules.”

Democrats also want reforms that would require ICE and other immigration agents to wear body cameras, remove masks, and always carry proper state identification while carrying out immigration enforcement activities, Schumer said.

Some Republicans have signaled openness to reforms at DHS, though they said they are against shutting down the government over the issue.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has backed Trump’s calls for a “thorough investigation” into the Pretti shooting.

Hawley said his primary concern is preventing a shutdown, which he said would be “terrible.”

To that end, he said that he plans to vote for the DHS funding bill.