{"id":46021,"date":"2026-01-11T12:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T20:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46021"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T20:36:06","slug":"schumer-jeffries-refuse-to-join-democrats-growing-calls-to-slash-ice-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/schumer-jeffries-refuse-to-join-democrats-growing-calls-to-slash-ice-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Schumer, Jeffries Refuse to Join Democrats\u2019 Growing Calls to Slash ICE Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Chuck<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 8, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Saul Loeb\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand how we provide votes for a bill that funds the extent of the depravity,\u201d said Sen. Chris Murphy.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Conley<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 09, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killing of Renee Good by a federal immigration<\/a> officer in Minneapolis this week came as Republicans<\/a> in Congress were planning to bring a homeland security spending bill to the House floor, deciding on whether the agency that\u2019s surged thousands of armed agents into communities across the country should have increased funding\u2014and progressive lawmakers are demanding that the Democrats use the upcoming government funding deadline to hopefully reduce the department\u2019s ability to wreak further havoc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand how we provide votes for a bill that funds the extent of the depravity,\u201d Sen. Chris Murphy<\/a> (D-Conn.) told<\/a> CNN<\/em> Thursday. \u201cI know we can\u2019t fix everything in the appropriations bill but we should be looking at ways we can put some commonsense limitations on their ability to bring violence to our cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"US<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senate Dems Stop Permitting Talks Over Trump\u2019s \u2018Reckless and Vindictive Assault\u2019 on Wind Power<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Nokomis<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Breathtaking Cruelty\u2019: Trump Cuts Billions in Federal Childcare Funds for Democrat-Led States<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But the top Democratic leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer<\/a> (NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> (NY) both appeared to have little interest in discussing how their party can use the appropriations process as leverage to rein in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> (ICE) and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies that have taken part in President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Schumer and Jeffries sharply criticized Wednesday\u2019s shooting and the Trump administration\u2019s insistence that, contrary to mounting video evidence, the ICE agent who shot Good was acting in self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jeffries said Thursday that he was focused on passing<\/a> other appropriations bills that were ultimately approved by the House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll figure out the accountability mechanisms at the appropriate time,\u201d Jeffries told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/anthonyzenkus\/status\/2009497584260534463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2009497584260534463%7Ctwgr%5E9afceb8b933032ca0968f9b6b525220601879e17%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgovernment-shutdown-january<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Congress facing a January 30 deadline for approving government spending packages\u2014and with public disapproval of ICE at an all-time high\u2014several lawmakers have said this week that right now is the \u201cappropriate time\u201d to rein in the agency in any way the Democrats can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStatements and letters are not enough, and the appropriations process and the [continuing resolution] expiring January 31 is our opportunity,\u201d Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told<\/a> Axios<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schumer also refused to say whether the Democrats would use the appropriations process as leverage to cut funding to ICE, whose\u00a0budget<\/a>\u00a0is set to balloon to $170 billion following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. Republicans will need Democratic support to pass a spending bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/jules_su\/status\/2009448358486913175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2009448358486913175%7Ctwgr%5E9afceb8b933032ca0968f9b6b525220601879e17%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgovernment-shutdown-january<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate leader said only that he has \u201clots of problems with ICE\u201d when asked whether he would support abolishing the agency\u2014a proposal whose support<\/a> has gone by 20 percentage points among voters in just one year, according to a recent survey. Both leaders also would not commit to slashing the homeland security budget should the Democrats win back majorities in Congress this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to be an opposition party when you refuse to oppose the blatantly illegal and immoral things being done by the opposition,\u201d said<\/a> Melanie D\u2019Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharing a clip of Jeffries\u2019 remarks to reporters about the agency\u2019s funding, historian Moshik Temkin said<\/a> that \u201cpeople need to understand that at its core ICE is a bipartisan project, increasingly funded and normalized over multiple Democratic administrations and congressional majorities, and a few of them (not this guy) are starting to realize how foolish, weak, and misguided they were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reps. Pramila Jayapal<\/a> (D-Wash.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> (D-NY) are among the progressive lawmakers calling on the Democrats to demand reduced funding for ICE\u2014even if it means another government shutdown months after the longest one in US history late last year, which began when the Democrats refused to join the GOP<\/a> in passing a spending bill that would have allowed Affordable Care Act<\/a> tax credits to expire. Ultimately, some Senate Democrats caved, and the subsidies lapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just keep authorizing money for these illegal killers,\u201d Jayapal told Axios<\/em>. \u201cThat\u2019s what they are, this rogue force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ocasio-Cortez told<\/a> the Independent<\/em> that Democrats should \u201cabsolutely\u201d push to cut funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Congress, this Republican Congress, while they cut a trillion dollars to Americans\u2019 healthcare<\/a>, and they exploded the ICE budget to $170 billion making it one of the largest paramilitary forces in the United States<\/a> with zero accountability as they shoot US citizens in the head\u2014absolutely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the podcast\u00a0The Majority Report<\/em>, Emma Vigeland and Sam Seder called on progressive Democrats to demand Schumer\u2019s ouster in light of his refusal to take action to rein in ICE as its violence in American communities escalates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It's time for Democrats to oust Chuck Schumer from leadership pic.twitter.com\/ByWMJ495zb<\/a><\/p>— Majority Report (@majorityfm) January 9, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>