Sen. John Fetterman distances himself from Democrats, rules out triggering government shutdown over DHS funding

Pennsylvania Democratic Senator JJohn Fetterman said Monday he is unwilling to provoke a new government shutdown along with his party's Senate caucus over funding disputes related to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Similarly, Fetterman condemned the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which has resulted in the deaths of two people over the past few weeks, in what has become a real problem for President Donald Trump's administration.

In a statement issued, the senator called for an end to the federal operation while mourning the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37-year-old Minneapolis residents, who were shot by federal immigration agents. The two were U.S. citizens and had been involved in demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the city. "Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti should still be alive. My family grieves for theirs. The operation in Minneapolis should stand down and immediately end. It has become an ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit," Fetterman said in his statement.

DHS funding

Following Pretti's death, Democrats announced that they would not vote for funding for DHS, which is tied to five other bills that allocate funds to the departments of Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor and Education. However, Senate Democrats are now proposing to separate the DHS bill from the broader package and have assured that they will not vote for a so-called "minibus" that includes funding for that agency.

Fetterman noted that while he supports separating the DHS bill from the overall package, he will not join his colleagues in voting against the current version of the budget package. In his statement, the senator said he has "spent considerable time listening to the various positions on the funding bills and I maintain that I will never vote to shut down the government, especially the Department of Defense. I reject calls to defund or abolish ICE. I strongly disagree with many of the strategies and practices ICE deployed in Minneapolis, and I believe that must change," he added, noting that "a vote to shut down the government will not defund ICE" as Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill gave billions of dollars to DHS.

While Fetterman stressed wanting "a debate on the DHS appropriations bill and support separating it from the minibus," he warned that "It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown."