Government hurtles toward a shutdown after fatal shooting

The U.S. government is nearing the brink of a partial shutdown by the end of the week after federal immigration agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minnesota on Saturday, the second such incident this month.

The Senate is set to vote this week on a massive House-passed $1.2 trillion package to fund the Department of Homeland Security, along with a wide swath of government, before the Jan. 30 deadline. But the shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is now threatening to derail the funding package as a growing chorus of Democrats warn they will oppose it unless funding for the Department of Homeland Security is stripped out.

“Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE. I will vote no,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement on Saturday night.

“Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included,” he said.

The funding package needs 60 votes to overcome the filibuster and pass the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-47 vote majority in the Senate, meaning Democratic support will be needed to pass the measure. Of the 47, two are independents who caucus with Democrats.

Some Democrats were already opposed to the funding measure, which, in addition to DHS, includes the departments of Defense; Health and Human Services; Labor; Housing and Urban Development; Transportation; Education; State and Treasury.

But Pretti’s death is rapidly galvanizing Democratic opposition to the measure.

“Federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences,” said Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., on X Saturday. “I will NOT support the DHS bill as it stands. The DHS bill needs to be split off from the larger funding package before the Senate—Republicans must work with us to do that.”

It’s unclear if the Senate can split the DHS portion off from the rest of the funding bill to minimize a partial shutdown. While the House passed the DHS bill separately from the rest of the bills, they were all tied together into one bill to be sent to the Senate, meaning the majority Republicans would need to support splitting the bill up.

The House, which left Washington last week for a pre-scheduled recess, would likely need to return to approve any changes the Senate makes.

Complicating matters further is a massive snowstorm over Washington, D.C., and wide stretches of the U.S. The Senate canceled votes on Monday due to the storm, shortening an already tight timeline to avoid a shutdown.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.