'ZERO IMPACT': Fetterman Reminds Dem Colleagues Shutting Down the Government Doesn't Defund ICE, Agency Already Funded By OBBB

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the lone Senate Democrat to join Republicans to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), accused his colleagues of choosing party over country as Democrats blocked a GOP-backed DHS funding measure ahead of a looming deadline.

Democrats dug in against funding the agency on Thursday while pressing for tougher restrictions and oversight of immigration enforcement tactics following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good during immigration operations in Minneapolis.

But Fetterman argued that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and his caucus were missing the mark — because a DHS shutdown wouldn’t meaningfully disrupt Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“This shutdown literally has zero impact on ICE functionality,” Fetterman said in a post on X. “Country over party is refusing to hit the entire Department of Homeland Security. Democracy demands a way forward to reform ICE without damaging our critical national security agencies.”

The DHS funding bill failed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold despite a 52-47 majority, setting up a potential partial shutdown when current DHS funding lapses.

Schumer and Democrats argued Republicans and the White House were not serious about reforms to ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and that the GOP’s counteroffer fell short of what Democrats said was needed.

To Fetterman’s point, ICE operations are expected to continue largely uninterrupted because of prior funding in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — including a multiyear allocation frequently cited as roughly $75 billion — meaning a shutdown fight now may hit other DHS functions harder than immigration enforcement itself.

Shutting DHS down has zero impact and zero changes for ICE.

ICE already has $75B in funding from the BBB that I did not vote for.

But it will hit FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency.

As a Democrat, I can’t vote to shut down critical parts of our government. pic.twitter.com/QYasx0LwCo

— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) February 12, 2026

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