Democrats Risk Another Shutdown: Trump Sounds Alarm as ICE Battle Rages

Paul Riverbank, 1/23/2026Capitol faces another shutdown standoff as ICE funding and border debates push deadlines and nerves.

President Trump, never one for hedging, didn’t mince words during his latest Fox News appearance. He called the specter of another closure “a Democrat shutdown,” casting blame with a flatness that left little room for negotiation. Even so, the memory of the last go-round hangs over the building—a shutdown that left paychecks light and emptied D.C. cafes faster than a snowstorm warning.

Congress, for its part, has managed to clear only half its funding hurdles. Six of twelve bills have made it across the aisle. Last week, the House squeezed out a package to cover State and Treasury, but momentum stopped cold once the Senate took up the rest. Sitting atop the pile: the contentious Homeland Security bill, a perennial lightning rod now electrified by recent events.

A deadly ICE operation in Minneapolis put the agency in the hot seat, the details—an unarmed woman, a chaotic scene—continuing to ripple through the halls. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, veteran of a thousand appropriations fights, didn’t hold back. “This is a rogue agency,” she said, letting the phrase hang in the stiff air before the hearing room’s silence snapped back to partisan lines. Republicans bristled. Their defense of ICE was blunt: pull back too far, they argued, and you risk inviting chaos at the border.

Negotiations, predictably, bruised both favorites and priorities. ICE saw $115 million slashed from its operational budget this round; the deal will cut more than five thousand detention beds—enough to get attention, not enough to satisfy most on the left. Democrats did notch $20 million for body cameras and stepped-up oversight. The right salvaged continued funding for border security, refusing to yield on what they call essential support. Nobody left feeling triumphant.

When the House vote came, the splits were sharp, lines bright and obvious. The DHS bill made it through by a margin slim enough to keep staffers guessing about Senate prospects. Bipartisanship, never extinct, flashed once or twice; mostly it lay quiet under the hum of looming deadlines.

There used to be time, some say—old staffers remember “regular order,” when budget votes were routine rather than fraught with brinkmanship. This winter, though, everyone—scientists at federal labs, janitors at the Lincoln Memorial—checks calendars and bank balances, bracing for whatever comes after the clock runs out.

Homeland Security isn’t just another line item—it’s a proxy for debates over who gets heard and whose safety is put first. Lawmakers carved out hours over oversight versus enforcement, wrestling with a version of the question as old as the country itself: what balance should America strike between welcome and defense?

As snow pelts the Capitol dome, aides hustle between offices. Negotiators rub tired eyes and measure out hope by the hour. No one is sure whether the Senate will untangle the snarl before time slips away. But the cost, everyone agrees, is real—measured in more than dollars, felt in the anxious calculations of families waiting to see if this winter brings paychecks or promises.

Congressional corridors are rarely silent, but these days the tension sits thick as dust motes in winter light. The January 30 deadline creeps closer, bringing a chill even the old radiators can’t quite chase away. Gone is any pretense of idle greetings. Conversations wilt into terse strategy sessions. Everyone knows what’s at stake: keep the government’s gears turning or slide back into last year’s malaise, when time stretched and patience snapped during the record-setting 43-day shutdown.President Trump, never one for hedging, didn’t mince words during his latest Fox News appearance. He called the specter of another closure “a Democrat shutdown,” casting blame with a flatness that left little room for negotiation. Even so, the memory of the last go-round hangs over the building—a shutdown that left paychecks light and emptied D.C. cafes faster than a snowstorm warning.Congress, for its part, has managed to clear only half its funding hurdles. Six of twelve bills have made it across the aisle. Last week, the House squeezed out a package to cover State and Treasury, but momentum stopped cold once the Senate took up the rest. Sitting atop the pile: the contentious Homeland Security bill, a perennial lightning rod now electrified by recent events.A deadly ICE operation in Minneapolis put the agency in the hot seat, the details—an unarmed woman, a chaotic scene—continuing to ripple through the halls. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, veteran of a thousand appropriations fights, didn’t hold back. “This is a rogue agency,” she said, letting the phrase hang in the stiff air before the hearing room’s silence snapped back to partisan lines. Republicans bristled. Their defense of ICE was blunt: pull back too far, they argued, and you risk inviting chaos at the border.Negotiations, predictably, bruised both favorites and priorities. ICE saw $115 million slashed from its operational budget this round; the deal will cut more than five thousand detention beds—enough to get attention, not enough to satisfy most on the left. Democrats did notch $20 million for body cameras and stepped-up oversight. The right salvaged continued funding for border security, refusing to yield on what they call essential support. Nobody left feeling triumphant.When the House vote came, the splits were sharp, lines bright and obvious. The DHS bill made it through by a margin slim enough to keep staffers guessing about Senate prospects. Bipartisanship, never extinct, flashed once or twice; mostly it lay quiet under the hum of looming deadlines.There used to be time, some say—old staffers remember “regular order,” when budget votes were routine rather than fraught with brinkmanship. This winter, though, everyone—scientists at federal labs, janitors at the Lincoln Memorial—checks calendars and bank balances, bracing for whatever comes after the clock runs out.Homeland Security isn’t just another line item—it’s a proxy for debates over who gets heard and whose safety is put first. Lawmakers carved out hours over oversight versus enforcement, wrestling with a version of the question as old as the country itself: what balance should America strike between welcome and defense?As snow pelts the Capitol dome, aides hustle between offices. Negotiators rub tired eyes and measure out hope by the hour. No one is sure whether the Senate will untangle the snarl before time slips away. But the cost, everyone agrees, is real—measured in more than dollars, felt in the anxious calculations of families waiting to see if this winter brings paychecks or promises.