White House seeks ICE compromise as Trump fears shutdown: 'Moving in Democrats' direction'
President Donald Trump's White House is looking to negotiate on Department of Homeland Security reforms to resolve the stalled funding bill as Senate Democrats' front against a blank check for more Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids has all but guaranteed a partial government shutdown at the end of the week, Politico reported on Thursday.
"The two sides haven’t yet reached an agreement, according to a person granted anonymity to describe the private discussions," said the report. "The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the person with knowledge of the discussions characterized them as 'ongoing and moving in Democrats’ direction.'"
Democrats are calling for the DHS funding bill be removed from the six-bill package to be voted on today, pass the other five, then pass a short-term stopgap DHS funding bill while negotiations proceed on a longer-term funding deal that includes reforms in response to the brutal federal crackdown in places like Minneapolis.
Among other things, they want a unified code of conduct for federal agents, judicial warrant requirements for immigration arrests, and requirements that ICE stop wearing masks and use body cameras.
The White House has so far not budged on any of those specific demands, at least publicly — but is moving toward the procedural moves Democrats want to mitigate a shutdown and buy time to make a deal.
According to Politico congressional reporter Meredith Lee Hill in an accompanying post on X, "How quickly the partial shutdown could end is largely up to House — which isn’t back until Monday. But WH and Dems are in last-ditch talks to head off another extended shutdown + Republicans have privately noted Trump really doesn’t want another shutdown."