Chuck Schumer Caricature/DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – A partial government shutdown was narrowly avoided Thursday after Senate Democrats extracted concessions from the White House and congressional Republicans, forcing a last-minute restructuring of a major funding package just hours before the Jan. 30 deadline.
President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reached an agreement following marathon negotiations that stretched from late Wednesday night into Thursday evening. The talks came after Democrats blocked a procedural vote earlier in the day, despite Republicans holding a Senate majority.
Under the deal, funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be stripped from a broader six-bill appropriations package and handled separately through a short-term, two-week continuing resolution. Democrats had refused to support the full package unless DHS funding — which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — was removed.
“The separation of the five bipartisan bills the Democrats asked for plus the two-week DHS continuing resolution has been agreed to,” Schumer said in a statement.
President Trump warned that political brinkmanship could still derail the process.
“The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, emphasizing that Republicans and Democrats had agreed to fund most of the federal government through September while temporarily extending DHS funding, including resources for the Coast Guard.
The revised package allows funding to move forward for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development — including the Pentagon — while DHS negotiations continue.
The agreement follows a failed test vote pushed forward by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, which was blocked by Senate Democrats and a small group of Republicans. GOP leaders now face the challenge of moving the package quickly through the Senate, a process that typically requires unanimous consent.
Several Republican senators objected to provisions within the bill, including earmarks and spending levels. Sens. Ron Johnson, Rick Scott, and Ted Budd raised concerns, while Sen. Rand Paul demanded a vote on an amendment to remove millions of dollars he described as “refugee welfare money.”
Despite frustration within GOP ranks, some Republicans argued the compromise was preferable to allowing Democrats to trigger another shutdown.
“That’s the only way we’re going to get through this without a long government shutdown,” said Sen. Steve Daines.
Democrats had vowed for days to oppose DHS funding amid controversy surrounding federal immigration enforcement, effectively holding broader government funding hostage to their demands. The two-week DHS extension now sets up another funding fight in early February.
Even if the Senate approves the revised package, the deal must still clear the House, which does not return until next week. Fiscal conservatives have already criticized the plan as another example of Washington’s failure to enact long-term spending discipline.
As the deadline approaches, Republicans are pushing to keep the government open while warning that repeated short-term deals only deepen fiscal uncertainty and embolden shutdown politics.
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