After Alex Pretti’s killing, Patty Murray and Senate Democrats vow to block DHS funding bill she negotiated

WASHINGTON – Less than a week after Sen. Patty Murray negotiated a bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security while reining in its aggressive immigration crackdown, the Washington state Democrat vowed to block that legislation after Saturday’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by the department’s agents.

Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government through Sept. 30, while short-term funding for DHS and several other agencies runs out at the end of January. Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, crafted a compromise bill with the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and their counterparts in the House that would slightly reduce Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation budget while requiring federal immigration agents to wear uniforms and body cameras.

“Americans must be eyes wide open that blocking the DHS funding bill will not shut down ICE,” Murray wrote Sunday on X. “ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap, whether or not we pass a funding bill. But we all saw another American shot and killed in broad daylight. There must be accountability, and we must keep pushing Republicans to work with us to rein in DHS.”

The massive tax-and-spending package congressional Republicans passed in July – and dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – includes $75 billion for ICE and nearly $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection over four years, nearly tripling ICE’s budget when combined with the $10 billion Congress provided the agency in the last fiscal year.

“Republicans voted to give ICE a $75 billion slush fund, a budget larger than most militaries,” Murray wrote Monday on X. “Every Democrat voted NO. We need immigration enforcement that is sane, upholds our rights, treats people with dignity and basic respect, and focuses on violent criminals.”

Current funding for ICE would stay flat in the bill Murray negotiated, while the portion allocated to deportation operations would decrease modestly.

That already wasn’t enough for most House Democrats, all but seven of whom opposed the DHS funding bill when it passed the GOP-controlled House on Thursday. But after Murray initially backed the bill as a way to rein in the department’s agents, the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection officers in Minneapolis on Saturday was the last straw for Democrats who have long objected to President Donald Trump’s aggressive effort to deport immigrants.

“Federal agents cannot murder people in broad daylight and face zero consequences,” Murray wrote Saturday on X. “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. I will continue fighting to rein in DHS and ICE.”

The decision to separate the DHS funding bill from the other five appropriations bills is up to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who signaled on Monday that he doesn’t intend to do so. Any federal agencies or programs that Congress fails to fund by the end of January will shut down at that time, although the effects of that partial shutdown wouldn’t be felt as acutely as the shutdown that took place in October and November.

With the exception of Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Senate Democrats have united in opposition to the DHS funding bill. Republicans have 53 seats in the upper chamber and would likely need at least eight Democrats to help reach the 60-vote supermajority required by the filibuster rule, since Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., typically votes against funding bills.

“When a federal officer kills a U.S. citizen amid a pattern of unlawful enforcement practices, there must be accountability and change,” Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington wrote Sunday on X. “I will not vote for additional funding for DHS or ICE this week.”

In contrast to their reaction to the killing of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, when Republicans in Congress largely backed the Trump administration’s claim that her killing was justified, GOP lawmakers have reacted more cautiously to the latest fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by immigration agents. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said on Saturday that he was “disturbed” by videos of CBP officers shooting the VA nurse in the back while other officers restrained him.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement Monday that “any loss of life under politically-charged circumstances is a tragedy” and called for “a full and impartial investigation into the events leading up to the death of Alex Pretti.”

Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed firearm, Minnesota officials say, and according to DHS he had a 9 mm handgun in a holster when agents forced him to the ground. Videos recorded from multiple angles show him recording the agents with his phone in one hand and his other hand empty, and at no point during the incident did he appear to reach for his gun.

“His family, law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment right and the trust of the American people deserve a fair process,” Crapo said, adding that the Trump administration has dramatically reduced illegal border crossings and that he supports ICE’s “duty to carry out lawful operations to arrest and deport those who pose a public safety risk, including violent offenders.”

“Those duties must be exercised in a way that maintains and restores public trust,” Crapo said, hailing the Trump administration’s decision on Monday to send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. “States and cities should work with the Administration to arrest and deport these individuals instead of ratcheting up tension between residents and the federal government by encouraging people to illegally impede ICE’s efforts.”