Shutdowns create chaos. DHS is made up of 15 different agencies, some of which include TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, USCIS, and ICE. An indefinite shutdown of DHS means thousands of federal employees furloughed or forced to work without pay, and millions of Americans forced to go without basic services they depend on. Air travel will be disrupted, disaster aid may not reach victims of the recent ice and snowstorm across the East Coast, Coast Guardsmen and women could miss paychecks, and legal immigration proceedings like Green Card and Visa interviews will grind to a halt.  

Congress should have used the short-term CR to negotiate a DHS funding bill that drastically reforms ICE’s tactics, lack of training, and use-of-force practices because the agency cannot continue to operate or exist in its current reckless form. Republicans should have worked with Democrats to reach a deal that makes our communities safer, because they’ll need Democratic votes in the Senate. Leaders Schumer and Jeffries sent Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson a list of demands which included several of the priorities laid out in my Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act. Republican leadership called it “a ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press.” 

It’s clear Republicans aren’t interested in responsible government, but we cannot let shutdowns become the new norm. I’ve led the Prevent Government Shutdown Act to implement an automatic CR when Congress does not pass all 12 funding bills in time, and limit how Members of Congress can travel during a shutdown.  

For months, I’ve been clear that ICE is not making our communities safer. They have militarized our cities, torn families apart, and even killed U.S. citizens. President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” - which I opposed last year – gave ICE over $170 billion over the next four years, funded by cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. Shutting down DHS doesn’t take away any of their money or stop their operations. It doesn’t remove Secretary Noem from power. ICE agents will be deemed essential employees and will continue their work.   

I cosponsored legislation to provide full-year funding for essential DHS components like FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard, etc., and withhold any additional money for ICE and Secretary Noem’s office. Negotiations over reforms for ICE can and should continue separately.   

I will continue to demand funding for the agencies that keep our communities safe and for real reform and accountability for ICE so they stop behaving like a secret police force terrorizing our communities.   

• A listen: This episode of the NYTimes Daily Podcast gives a helpful breakdown of what I’ve been talking about on why a shutdown of DHS is not an effective approach to making changes to ICE because they already received all the funding they need (and then some!) in the Big Beautiful Bill.  

• This San Diego Union Tribune article talks about a potential breakthrough in cancer care from a San Diego based startup.  

• This report from UCSD’s Immigration Policy Center provides the data to confirm what we know: ICE agents wearing masks and unidentifiable uniforms makes us all less safe.