Thune steamrolls Dems' DHS revolt as Fetterman defects, Schumer under pressure

Monday's action is just the first of several hurdles lawmakers will have to overcome, but important nonetheless given the extreme weather that rocked much of the country and threatened to delay the process altogether. 

But the immediate fight and one that threatens to derail the GOP's plan to avert yet another shutdown is over DHS funding. 

Schumer and Senate Democrats rapidly mobilized their opposition to the funding bill, despite maintaining a fragile truce with the GOP in their bipartisan government funding negotiations over the last two days.

Despite shoring up a largely unified front, including several moderate Senate Democrats who crossed the aisle to help Republicans reopen the government last year, Schumer does have one perennial defector.

And like those times before, Fetterman is not keen on shutting the federal government down, despite agreeing with Senate Democrats that the DHS bill should be stripped from the broader package. 

He noted in a statement that even shutting down the government would affect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding, given that the GOP's colossal, "one big, beautiful" bill injected over $170 billion over the next several years into DHS.

"I reject the calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and believe that must change," Fetterman said. "I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus."

And like the last foray into a possible shutdown, Schumer argued that the onus was on Thune and Senate Republicans, despite Senate Democrats having negotiated the current funding package on a bipartisan basis. 

"The responsibility to prevent a partial government shutdown is on Leader Thune and Senate Republicans," Schumer said in a statement. "If Leader Thune puts those five bills on the floor this week, we can pass them right away. If not, Republicans will again be responsible for another government shutdown."