Good news on ocean and species protection, much more
It’s our good-news Friday, and I hope you’ll have time to at least get the dopamine hit from scrolling through this edition of Fix the News. But a task for Americans today is to let their lawmakers know their views on immigration enforcement; an update on congressional action on that is below.
‘Realities of Senate procedure’ stall action on DHS funding
“Exuberance over a bipartisan deal struck Thursday afternoon to punt final decisions on Homeland Security funding and pass the rest of this year’s spending bills gave way to the realities of Senate procedure later in the evening,” says Roll Call.
So the Senate adjourned late Thursday night without reaching a bipartisan time agreement on votes and a limited list of amendments. The process required all 100 senators to agree not to raise an objection, and that wasn’t happening quickly.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says the agreement is “a bad deal” and says ICE officers are being “demonized.”
The legislation also would repeal a provision of an earlier funding law that would allow Graham and other Republican senators whose phone records were collected during a Biden-era investigation to sue for large payouts.
And other senators on both sides of the aisle have raised objections and have amendments they want to offer, Roll Call says.
The deal earlier in the day involves passing a short-term DHS funding extension, through Feb. 13, as negotiations continue over how and whether to impose tighter restrictions on federal immigration agents. At the same time, five other final fiscal 2026 spending bills that were caught in the partisan clash over immigration policy would be allowed to pass.
President Trump endorsed the deal Thursday night and called on both parties to support it.
Coming into the negotiations, Senate Democrats listed demands for changes to the way DHS agents are doing their work: ending roving patrols, ensuring that federal agents are held to the same use of force policies that apply to state and local law enforcement, preventing agents from wearing masks, and requiring body cameras, says ABC News.
If it passes the Senate, the revised spending package would then have to return to the House, where some Republicans are opposed to reconsidering the legislation they’ve already passed. The House isn’t scheduled to return until Monday.
So a short-term shutdown seems inevitable, media say.
To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Or you can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators.
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