Democrats Hope DHS Shutdown Gives Them Leverage for Reforms

Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on how to avoid shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. For the first time, Democrats believe they can leverage the moment to move Republicans on reforming two departments they have long criticized in the Trump administration: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

“The stakes are quite high,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told NOTUS. “This is a significant moment, and in many ways, it could possibly be our last bite at the apple this year in order to secure real reforms that reflect what so many Americans are outraged about.”

It has been a series of losses for Democrats fighting Republicans and the Trump administration as the minority party on issues they believe matter to voters in the 2026 midterms. Most recently, Democrats failed to get Republicans to help with expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits, after Democrats waged the longest government shutdown in U.S. history to extract an agreement on the subsidies.

Now, Democrats are speaking out against what they argue are the Trump administration’s inhumane efforts to deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. This current funding fight is centered on their effort to put guardrails in place for DHS, something they believe is necessary after the deaths last month of U.S. citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

“People need to understand that pulling back the ICE presence in Minnesota is, of course, really important for my state, but the damage that has been done and the damage that could be done in other states, unless it’s reined in, is still a huge national problem,” Sen. Tina Smith told NOTUS.

Democrats have repeatedly pointed to the growing support from voters for why they are fighting for reforms at the two agencies. One poll by the NBC News Decision Desk Poll found that nearly 3 in 4 U.S. adults support some changes to ICE, with 29% saying it should be abolished outright.

The question is whether a DHS shutdown could actually affect anything for Democrats on reforming ICE and CBP.

“We should not fund a lawless, abusive agency any longer,” Sen. Chris Murphy said. “We have to make a decision. Are we going to reform what they’re doing to bring in line with what the American people want? Or are we going to fund lawlessness?”

Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday blamed Democrats for stalling negotiations to fund the agency, pointing to the decision from the Trump administration and Border Czar Tom Homan to pull agents out of Minnesota as a first step to negotiate funding the department.

“We don’t have a solution yet,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week. “Democrats, at least at the moment, definitely have no interest in funding the Department of Homeland Security.”

Democrats, for the most part, have shifted calls to “abolish ICE” to “disbanding,” “recreating” and “rebuilding the agency from scratch.” Progressives and moderates in the party are rallying around legislative proposals. They have focused on more specific changes to immigration enforcement operations in the field.

One of the biggest points of contention between the White House and Democrats is requiring a judicial warrant, which is not mandatory right now for ICE officials to carry out operations across the country. Democrats have prioritized making judicial warrants mandatory to serve as a guardrail for ICE and CBP’s operations.

“I think funding is one of our very few pieces of leverage where we can demand those reforms,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal told NOTUS. “Is it actually possible to reform agencies that have a culture of lawlessness and so much money? I don’t know, but there are certain things that would make a big difference, particularly an expansive judicial warrant.”

Some Democrats do not think the White House is willing to negotiate in good faith, which could complicate further discussions over the next couple of days or weeks as the White House tries to negotiate with Democratic leaders.

“They can negotiate a deal, but [Trump’s] gonna blow right past it,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez said. “They’re not gonna live up to whatever we come to an agreement on, or they will find ways to delay implementing whatever they come up.”

Outside groups have long criticized Democrats’ negotiations with Republicans on government funding, especially after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer helped fund the government with nothing in return from Republicans in March. This time around, one of those groups is praising Democrats for holding the line and refusing to bend to Republicans’ wishes.

“Democrats have the leverage, and they are using it,” Andrew O’Neill, Indivisible’s national advocacy director, said in a statement. “If Republicans refuse to change course, they alone will answer for the consequences. Democrats will not be complicit in continuing policies that inflict fear, violence, and injustice on the people they represent.”

Now, the question will be how long the shutdown could last. Withdrawing support for more funding for DHS doesn’t just affect ICE and CBP, the agencies that are at the heart of the debate, but also other crucial agencies, such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Despite the potential shutdown, immigration enforcement efforts could continue largely uninterrupted because of funding passed along party lines last summer, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that gave ICE about $75 billion in additional funding.

As the shutdown begins, it is unclear what the impacts could be for the other agencies that don’t have additional resources already approved. Democrats, for now, appear to be on the same page about the lapse in funding forcing the administration’s hand.

“We have a very, very fundamental difference of opinion as to the law breaking that is occurring by Border Patrol and ICE in the performance of their duties and the illegal performance of their duties,“ Rep. Steny Hoyer said. “I think we are united.”