Odds of US government shutdown rise after funding deal stalls in Senate

By David Morgan, Richard Cowan and Nolan D. McCaskill

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Odds of a partial U.S. government shutdown rose on Friday after new barriers emerged in the Senate to a deal that would ensure funding for agency operations would not be interrupted.

The deal, announced by Senate Democrats and President Donald Trump, would allow Congress to pass a spending bill that covers a wide swath of government operations, from the military to health programs, while they negotiate new limits on Trump’s immigration crackdown.

But action stalled in the Senate as some lawmakers objected to the agreement. Funding expires at midnight.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he would block the package unless the Senate agrees to vote on a proposal that would require local governments to comply with federal immigration enforcement, and a second proposal that would allow lawmakers and groups targeted in an election-interference investigation to sue the U.S. government.

That notion has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans as an enrichment scheme for public officials.

Even if the Senate overcomes Graham’s objections and passes the deal, it would also have to win approval from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which is out of session this week. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday it would be difficult to get lawmakers back to Washington to vote before the midnight deadline.

Any shutdown that results might be brief. Lawmakers from both parties have been working to ensure the debate over immigration enforcement does not disrupt other government operations. This is a marked contrast from last fall, when Republicans and Democrats dug into their positions in a dispute over healthcare, prompting a shutdown that lasted a record 43 days and cost the U.S. economy an estimated $11 billion.

The deal would separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the broader funding package, allowing lawmakers to approve spending for agencies like the Pentagon and the Department of Labor while they consider new restrictions on federal immigration agents.

Senate Democrats, angered by the shooting of a second U.S. citizen by immigration agents in Minneapolis last weekend, had threatened to hold up the funding package in an effort to force Trump to rein in DHS, which oversees federal immigration enforcement.

Democrats want to end roving patrols, require agents to wear body cameras and prohibit them from wearing face masks. They also want to require immigration agents to get a search warrant from a judge, rather than from their own officials. Republicans say they are open to some of those ideas.

DHS funding would be extended for two weeks, giving negotiators time to reach an agreement on immigration tactics.

The shooting death of nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents on Saturday spurred widespread public outrage, prompting the Trump administration to de-escalate operations in the region. Pretti’s death was the second this month of a U.S. citizen with no criminal record involving immigration law enforcement agents. 

(Reporting by David Morgan, Richard Cowan and Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)