U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.Y.) (C), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.Y.) (L), and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) hold a press conference regarding funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2026.
Kevin Dietch | Getty Images
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday night that Congressional Democrats have sent a counter-proposal to the White House and Republicans in negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.
Schumer, New York and other Democratic lawmakers continue to negotiate with President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress over imposing new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for funding for DHS. The agency closed early Saturday morning after running out of two-week stopgap funding.
Negotiations over DHS funding have intensified after a federal immigration agent shot and killed two Americans during a migrant surge in Minneapolis. Democrats called for stripping DHS funding from a package that diverted funds to a handful of other government agencies in the wake of mass shootings and forced negotiations on immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration then announced it was scaling back operations in Minneapolis.
The Democratic Party did not mention the content of the counterproposal. Mr. Schumer’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment on the details of the proposal.
Democrats are pushing to ban officers who cover their faces, require body cameras, require judicial warrants for immigration arrests and eliminate “patrol patrols,” among other priorities. The White House and Republicans are delaying mask bans and judicial warrant requests.
The White House sent its first counterproposal to the Democratic proposal last week. Democrats responded by throwing cold water on the bill, saying it didn’t adequately address their concerns.
Democrats have less incentive to capitulate in this spending standoff, especially given the limited scope of the government shutdown and recent polls showing that most Americans feel President Trump’s immigration policies have gone too far.
“This incorporates a substantive change in immigration policy. I think Republicans are still acting like they’re holding a straight flush on immigration, but clearly they’re only holding a pair of threes,” Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist and associate with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in an interview.
Many DHS employees are still working despite the closure. That’s because much of DHS is considered essential during the shutdown and was partially funded by last year’s massive tax and spending bill. But if the shutdown lasts longer, essential workers could be forced to work without pay. This includes employees from DHS agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Immigration operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection will be able to continue with little impact from the closure. Congressional Republicans have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the agency’s law enforcement agency as part of their party-line “One Big Beautiful Bill” legislation.
The remaining government funding will be funded until September 30th.
