Washington — Unbiased Sen. Angus King of Maine mentioned Sunday that he will not vote for a package deal to fund the federal government if it consists of funding for ICE, as lawmakers scramble to cross a slate of funding payments to stave off a partial authorities shutdown by Friday — however he argued that “we do not have to have a shutdown.”
“I hate shutdowns,” King mentioned on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
“However I can not vote for a invoice that features ICE funding beneath these circumstances — what they’re doing in my state, what we noticed yesterday in Minneapolis,” the senator continued, referring to an immigration enforcement operation launched in Maine final week.
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer introduced Saturday, after the deadly capturing of a 37-year-old Minneapolis man by federal brokers, that Democrats won’t put up the mandatory votes to advance a funding package deal to forestall a partial authorities shutdown if it consists of funds for the Division of Homeland Safety, which oversees ICE.
Thus far, six of the 12 appropriations payments have been handed by Congress and signed into legislation. The Senate has till Friday, Jan. 30 to approve the ultimate six payments, which have been packaged collectively, after they handed the Home in latest weeks. That package deal features a invoice that will fund DHS till the tip of the fiscal 12 months. If these remaining six payments aren’t handed by the Senate and signed by President Trump by Friday, the companies that they cowl will start to close down.
King, who caucuses with Democrats, was amongst a trio of senators who negotiated a take care of Republicans to reopen the federal government throughout the longest shutdown in historical past final 12 months. He argued that “there’s a simple method out” of the funding battle, saying Senate Majority Chief John Thune ought to separate the DHS invoice from the opposite 5 funding measures.
“If these payments cross, 96% of the federal authorities is funded,” King mentioned. “Take up DHS by itself, let’s have an trustworthy negotiation, put some guardrails on what is going on on, some accountability, and that will resolve this drawback.”
