For the third time since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is navigating a government shutdown fight — and for the second time, he’s leaning in.
The New York Democrat is leading his caucus in refusing to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security without reforms aimed at reining in immigration enforcement operations across the United States.
“He is as aggressive as any of us in seeking remedies here,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told MS NOW of Schumer. “He feels in his gut as we do in ours.”
The strategy echoes Schumer’s tactics during the fall’s record-breaking shutdown, when Democrats demanded an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits as part of a funding deal.
The difference this time? Schumer has a negotiating partner.
A source confirmed to MS NOW that Schumer has been in direct contact with President Donald Trump as they try to reach a deal. But whether Schumer — who has faced criticism from the Democratic base over his handling of past shutdown fights — can close the deal this time remains an open question.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., called Schumer’s leadership “essential to holding the line.”
“He’s been doing that,” Booker said.
Other Democrats are also standing by Schumer, at least until there’s a resolution to this standoff.
When asked what it says about Schumer’s leadership if he lands a deal, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said everything is “in flux” right now.
“From my perspective, let’s just see how it goes,” Van Hollen said.
On Wednesday, Schumer formally announced his caucus’ demands: an end to “roving patrols” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration agencies, accountability for agents who violate rules, mandating use of body cams, and barring the wearing of masks.
“What ICE is doing is state-sanctioned thuggery. It must stop,” Schumer said.
Under Schumer’s proposal DHS funding would be stripped from the larger spending package, which includes five other appropriations bills funding everything from the Department of Defense to the Department of Health and Human Services. While Congress would be able to fund those other provisions, the DHS bill would get a short-term extension so lawmakers could make changes.
Whether Congress could actually reach an eventual deal on DHS funding remains unclear. But for Democrats, the answer is almost beside the point. Passing all but the DHS appropriations measure would represent 96% of federal discretionary spending — and Democrats appear largely indifferent to the prospect of a shutdown at DHS.
Not that there’d be much of a shutdown at DHS. For one, many of the agency’s activities could be deemed essential. And for another, Republicans gave Homeland Security a large pot of money in their reconciliation bill over the summer.
Schumer’s decision to risk a shutdown stands in stark contrast to the strategy he forecasted just a few weeks ago. After the record-breaking 43-day shutdown last fall, Schumer indicated Democrats wouldn’t flirt with another shutdown ahead of the Jan. 30 funding deadline.
And just a week ago, the budget bills appeared to be on a glidepath.
But circumstances intervened.
On Saturday, amid growing public outcry over the death of Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, Schumer announced Democrats wouldn’t provide the votes needed to advance a sweeping government funding bill if money for DHS was included.
Heading into the week, several Senate Democrats approached by MS NOW offered support for Schumer’s hardline approach.
“You saw a very strong statement from Sen. Schumer immediately,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., told MS NOW, noting the Leader’s announcement came “before” Democrats “even gathered as a caucus.”
“He’s speaking for the caucus. We’re all appalled at what happened,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said.
And Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said voters want Congress to restrain ICE, “and I think Chuck is hearing the same thing.”
She added that Schumer appeared to have “a good vote count” heading into the shutdown fight. “He knows where everybody is, which I don’t — I’m sure that he did the first time or second time,” she said.
Schumer has already led his party through two funding fights in the past year — with mixed results both legislatively and for his own political standing within the party.
Last spring, the New Yorker — who has served in the Senate for more than a quarter century — faced massive backlash from the Democratic base and members of his own party on Capitol Hill after he refused to block a GOP bill to avert a government shutdown.
That decision came just as Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative was at the height of its powers. But Schumer argued that allowing a shutdown risked giving Trump more unilateral authority to slash federal workers and spending.
House Democrats particularly railed against the longtime Brooklyn politician, accusing him of betrayal and “surrendering leverage.” Some suggested progressive New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should primary him.
Already this midterm cycle, some Democratic candidates for the Senate have deflected when asked about whether they’d back Schumer remaining as the caucus leader. Some have outright called for a change.
But by the fall, when a shutdown deadline again approached, Schumer took a notably different tact — one that didn’t provide a policy win but served as a political winner.
Over the course of the shutdown, Schumer and Senate Democrats demanded a deal on extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits so enrollees could avoid skyrocketing premiums.
The shutdown ended with a handshake deal between Republicans and a group of moderate Democrats, who agreed to end the impasse in exchange for a later vote on extending those subsidies — a vote that would ultimately fail. And as of the end of January, the enhanced subsidies — which expired on Jan. 1, 2026 — have not been renewed. At least legislatively, Democrats lost the fight.
But politically, they may have salvaged a win. Democrats successfully catapulted health care to the center of the midterm conversation — an issue where Republicans are particularly vulnerable and Democrats are particularly strong.
As the public grows increasingly outraged at Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, Schumer has once again positioned this fight for another political win, distancing Democrats from Trump’s policies and calling attention to his party’s efforts to fight back.
Predictably, however, Democrats are downplaying that their fight is about politics at all.
“This is necessary,” Kim said of reforming ICE. “The American people are scared.”
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, who serves as Democratic whip, also told MS NOW this is bigger than politics.
“What’s at stake here is the reputation of this country around the world and to its own citizens,” Durbin said.
Ali Vitali contributed to this report.
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