(A)Political - February 14th

Good morning everyone,

Rhetoric did not take a back seat to the action this week. Let’s jump in!

Funding has dried up for DHS as the shutdown for the department begins. Trump declared that he would issue an executive order if the SAVE act gets stalled in the Senate. Trump made an announcement that he will be visiting Venezuela, the first Presidential visit since October 1997 when Clinton visited.

• DHS Enters Shutdown As Senate Blocks Funding

• Trump: Voter ID Will Be Required ‘Whether Approved By Congress Or Not’

• President Announces Trip To Venezuela, First Oval Visit Since 1997

DHS Enters Shutdown As Senate Blocks Funding

_{By: Atlas}

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed at midnight Saturday after weeks of failed negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats over immigration enforcement reforms. The 52-47 vote Thursday to block a House-passed DHS appropriations bill sealed the outcome, leaving more than 260,000 federal workers facing yet another stretch of uncertainty — the third partial government shutdown in three months.

The only Democrat to cross party lines was Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has consistently voted against shutdowns regardless of the political circumstances. Senate Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote to "nay" at the last minute, a procedural maneuver that allows him to revive the bill at a later date. Shortly after the vote failed, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt tried to push through a two-week stopgap by unanimous consent. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy blocked it.

Both chambers then left Washington for a scheduled recess. Lawmakers are not expected back until Feb. 23, the day before President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, though House members are on 48-hour recall and senators have been told to remain available. Several members traveled to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, dimming the chances of a quick return.

The Minneapolis Shootings and the Democratic Revolt

What changed the political calculus for Democrats was Minneapolis. In January, federal immigration officers killed two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti — during enforcement operations tied to the administration's deportation campaign. Video footage that surfaced Jan. 24 showed Pretti kneeling on the ground, holding his phone and glasses, when agents shot him in the back. Another officer had already confiscated a concealed pistol Pretti was licensed to carry.

The killings turned DHS funding from a routine appropriations fight into full-blown political turmoil. Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, rolled out a 10-point reform plan that included banning roving ICE patrols, requiring judicial warrants before agents enter private homes, prohibiting officers from concealing their identities behind masks, mandating body cameras and standardized uniforms, and setting universal use-of-force guidelines across federal law enforcement.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, had actually defended the DHS spending bill when it first came together. Republicans were quick to point that out. Sen. John Barrasso, the GOP whip, called the reversal a "flip-flop" on a bill Democrats helped write. But Murray's position shifted after the Pretti footage went public, and by Thursday she was on the Senate floor declaring that ICE and CBP "are out of control and must be reined in."

The White House Tried — Democrats Said It Wasn't Enough

The administration made several moves in the final stretch to head off a shutdown. Border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge, the intensified deportation campaign in Minneapolis, was winding down and that ICE staffing in the state would return to normal levels. The White House also committed to outfitting immigration officers with body cameras, meeting one of the Democrats' stated demands.

On the legislative side, the White House sent a one-page letter to Senate Democrats earlier in the week outlining a handful of concessions, followed by draft legislative language. Democrats dismissed both. Murray told reporters Thursday that the offer "did not address our major concerns" and that her side intended to send a counteroffer. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was similarly unimpressed, saying his "preliminary assessment" was that the proposal fell short.

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a moderate who voted to end the 43-day shutdown in November, drew a hard line. She told reporters she would not support another temporary funding patch without real movement on reforms. Asked what the White House was willing to do to rein in ICE, her answer was blunt: "Nothing that I've heard."

Trump, speaking to reporters Friday before departing for Fort Bragg, said he planned to get personally involved in the talks. He offered no specifics. "We'll see what happens," he said. "We always have to protect our law enforcement."

Who Gets Hit and Who Doesn't

The shutdown's impact will be uneven across DHS. The agencies that sparked the entire fight — ICE and Customs and Border Protection — will keep running with little disruption. Both were given massive, independent funding through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed last summer. ICE alone has $38.3 billion earmarked for detention operations. Immigration enforcement, in short, is not going anywhere.

The burden instead falls on the rest of the department. TSA workers will keep screening passengers at airports, but without pay. Roughly 95 percent of the agency's 60,000 employees are classified as essential and must report to work regardless. The Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency all face varying degrees of disruption. A significant share of CISA's workforce is expected to be furloughed outright.

FEMA presents a particular concern. The agency has about $7 billion sitting in its disaster relief fund — enough to cover existing obligations for approximately two months. But Gregg Phillips, the associate administrator of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, warned lawmakers that a new disaster during the shutdown would put the agency under serious strain. For a country still dealing with the aftermath of winter storms in several states, that is not an abstract risk. Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans noted that her state, which sustained significant storm damage recently, has an immediate need for FEMA resources.

What Comes Next

Thune acknowledged Thursday that the two sides are "not close" to a deal but maintained that the outlines of one are visible. "That deal space is there," he said. "This can be done." Democrats have signaled they intend to send a counteroffer to the White House, though no timeline has been set.

The math has not changed. Democrats need 60 votes to advance any spending bill in the Senate, and Republicans have shown no appetite for the scope of reforms Schumer's caucus is demanding. Warrant requirements and restrictions on how agents conduct raids remain firm sticking points that neither side appears willing to concede.

In the meantime, tens of thousands of federal employees will continue working without a paycheck. Political analyst Leslie Caughell cautioned against expecting a disruption on the scale of the 43-day shutdown last fall, but noted that the repeated closures reflect something deeper than a single policy disagreement. Congress has now failed to keep the government fully funded three times since November, and there is no indication the pattern is about to break.

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