WASHINGTON — The federal government faces a potential partial shutdown Friday as Senate Democrats united in opposition to a $1.2 trillion funding package that includes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, following the weekend shooting death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti in Minneapolis.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Saturday evening that Democrats would not provide the votes needed to advance the funding bill. Republicans require at least seven Democratic senators to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a filibuster.
“What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling and unacceptable in any American city,” Schumer said in a statement. He criticized Republicans for failing to include guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the spending bill.
The standoff follows the fatal shooting of Pretti, 37, by a Border Patrol agent Saturday morning in south Minneapolis. Local officials confirmed Pretti was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record and held a valid permit to carry a firearm. He was the second U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis this month, following the January 7 shooting of Renee Good.
Video evidence contradicts official account
Federal officials described the shooting as an act of self-defense, but video evidence that has surfaced contradicts that assertion. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti approached officers with a pistol and resisted disarming attempts. However, multiple bystander videos show Pretti filming with his phone when officers pepper sprayed him and tackled him to the ground.
Minnesota Representative Kelly Morrison stated that DHS “has come out with a predetermined narrative that contradicts everything we saw with our own eyes”.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported that DHS representatives blocked state investigators from accessing the shooting scene, despite obtaining a judge-signed search warrant. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Saturday requiring DHS to preserve all evidence related to the shooting.
Growing opposition from both parties
At least 15 Democratic senators have publicly announced opposition to the DHS funding bill. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar told NBC’s “Meet the Press” she would not vote for the funding, citing federal agents’ actions in her state.
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Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined the opposition, as did senators from key battleground states including Mark Warner of Virginia, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii.
“I am not voting for this funding. When they’re killing two constituents in my state, and they’re taking 2-year-olds out of the arms of their mom, and they are taking an elder Hmong man out of his house and putting him out there in his underwear, and then figuring out they have the wrong man, no, I am not voting for this funding.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Some Republicans also expressed concern. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy called the events in Minneapolis “incredibly disturbing” and said “the credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” Cassidy called for a joint federal and state investigation.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and other GOP lawmakers requested additional information from immigration enforcement leaders. Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer stated that while her support for ICE funding remains unchanged, “we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble”.
Gun rights groups enter debate
The National Rifle Association criticized comments from a federal prosecutor suggesting armed individuals approaching law enforcement could justifiably be shot. The NRA called the prosecutor’s remarks “dangerous and wrong,” stating that “responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
“This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
National Rifle Association statement
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus issued a statement defending Second Amendment rights at protests. The group stated that “every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Vice President’s blames state leadership
Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis Thursday, blaming what he characterized as a “failure of cooperation” by local authorities for tensions surrounding federal immigration operations. Vance said the recent turmoil “has been created, I think, by a lot of very, frankly, far-left people, also by some of the state and local law enforcement officials who could do a much better job in cooperating”.
Following Saturday’s shooting, Vance called the unrest in Minnesota “engineered chaos” and accused “far-left agitators working with local authorities” of creating the conditions that led to the confrontation.
Shutdown implications
The House passed the funding package Thursday, sending it to the Senate for approval before the January 30 deadline. The legislation funds multiple departments including Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Education, State, and Treasury, in addition to DHS.
Senator Angus King of Maine suggested removing the DHS funding portion to avoid a shutdown, noting that if other bills passed, “96% of the federal government is funded.”
A person familiar with Senate Republican leadership thinking told media outlets that Republicans “will not remove the DHS funding portion” and expressed hope that “Democrats can find a path forward to join us.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz demanded Saturday that the Trump administration withdraw ICE agents from Minneapolis, calling the federal operations an “absolute abomination.”
President Trump announced Monday that he is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. The administration has deployed approximately 3,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis region as part of Operation Metro Surge.
Senate Democrats planned an all-members call Sunday evening to determine their path forward. With Congress returning Tuesday night ahead of a Wednesday procedural vote, lawmakers face an unusually tight timeline complicated by the ongoing winter storm affecting travel to Washington.
Editor’s note: The Daily Planet learned that a picture of Alex Pretti in his scrubs was altered without our knowledge, violating our code of ethics. Although the image remains on our social media related to past posts, we will no longer use it and have updated the featured image on all prior posts.
