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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, in a social media post Saturday evening, hours after the shootings, said what is happening in Minnesota is “horrific” and that Democrats “will not provide the votes to move forward on the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”

President Donald Trump has signed six of the 12 annual spending bills for the current fiscal year into law. Six others are awaiting action in the Senate. If senators fail to act by midnight Friday, funding for agencies covered under these six bills will expire.

Republicans will need some Democratic support to pass the remaining spending bills in time to avoid a partial shutdown. That support was already in question after Renee Goode, a mother of three, was shot and killed earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. But the fatal shooting of Alex Pretty, an ICU nurse, on Saturday quickly moved Democrats to take a stronger stance.

“Democrats sought common-sense reforms in the DHS spending bill, but because Republicans refuse to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in ICE abuses,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “I will vote no”

The deal starts to fall apart

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the lead negotiator on the funding package, has been pressing her colleagues to vote in favor of the Homeland Security bill, arguing that Democrats have successfully resisted significant increases to the ICE budget.

But in the wake of the shooting, Murray said Sunday on X: “I will not support the DHS bill as it stands.”

“Federal agents cannot kill people in broad daylight without facing any consequences,” Murray wrote.

Federal officials have defended the actions of the agents involved in the shootings of Good and Pretti as justified. Democrats said video of the two shootings showed otherwise, and some Republicans are calling for comprehensive investigations.

“The events in Minneapolis are incredibly troubling,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, said on X. “The credibility of ICE and DHS is at stake. There must be a full, joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people to know the truth.”

Republican Senator Thom Tillis wants a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the shooting, and said that “any administration official who jumps to judgment and tries to shut down the investigation before it begins is doing incredible damage to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, RSC. He said Democrats should reconsider their threat not to support DHS funding and work with him to “end the chaos created by sanctuary city policies.”

“Now is not the time to defund one of our key national security priorities: protecting the border,” Graham said on X.

The financing puzzle will be difficult to solve

The growing backlash from Democrats puts Senate Republican leaders in a difficult position.

Much of the government, including the Ministry of Defense, continues to operate under a short-term bill that provides funding only until Friday.

Republican leaders had hoped to avoid another shutdown after a 43-day shutdown last fall that revolved around Democrats’ insistence on expanding federal subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.

Before Pretty’s death, many Democrats felt the same way about a potential shutdown, offering support in the House for most of the remaining appropriations bills, with the Department of Homeland Security being an exception.

The House sent the six funding bills to the Senate as a single package, making it very difficult to leave out the Homeland Security portion that Democrats are demanding.

Despite the procedural hurdles, Schumer said Sunday that Republicans must work with Democrats to advance the five other bills and rewrite the Department of Homeland Security bill. “This is the best course of action, and the American people stand with us,” Schumer said.

The road ahead is uncertain. The Senate is not scheduled to return to its sessions before Tuesday, due to the snowstorm. The House of Representatives plans to exit session this week and will have to pass the funding package again if it is changed.

Democrats are pushing to add policy changes to the Homeland Security spending bill that would force ICE agents to use arrest warrants to arrest immigrants, mandate enhanced training, require agents to identify themselves and have Border Patrol agents stay at the border instead of helping ICE with in-country immigration raids.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees Homeland Security funding, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that congress cannot fund an administration that is “killing American citizens and traumatizing young boys and girls across the country in violation of the law.”

One by one, Democrats are keeping tabs on the opposition

Democratic senators were scheduled to participate in a conference call Sunday evening to discuss next steps. House Democrats held their caucuses in the morning with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, both former members of Congress.

Several other Democratic senators announced they would vote “no” on Homeland Security funds, including some who helped Republicans end the record shutdown last year.

“The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said in a post on X. Sen. Katherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said she opposes that part of the package.

Minnesota Democratic senators have also indicated they will oppose the DHS funding bill.

“For those wondering where we go from here: not voting to fund ICE is a great place for us to start,” Senator Tina Smith wrote on X.

“We oppose the ICE funding bill,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar. “We call for a full and transparent investigation of state officials.” “And we call on our Republican colleagues to stand up. They know this is wrong.”

Why not shut down the entire government

The progress Congress has made so far on spending bills means that much of the federal government’s work will continue even if lawmakers can’t complete the job.

The bill signed by Trump on Friday funds the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the US Army Corps of Engineers through the end of the budget year in September.

The Ministry of Agriculture was funded from a previous measure, meaning the shutdown should not stop food aid this time.

But other vital government operations will be disrupted.

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Associated Press writers Michelle L. Bryce and Lisa Mascaro.