Senate Democrats rebel against their own leadership over DHS funding package, increasing shutdown odds

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Democrats are beginning to peel off from their leadership, upping the ante for another government shutdown . Disputes over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, fewer restrictions on President Donald Trump’s authority and a possible headache with a previous, controversial provision could set the stage for another government shutdown. Senate Republican and Democratic leaders don’t want to idly fall into another government shutdown, given that Congress just exited the longest closure in history a few short months ago. They have differing reasons, but for now, Republicans and Democrats agreed that the best option was to fund the government. HOUSE JAMS SENATE BY ATTACHING REPEAL OF JACK SMITH PROVISION TO $1.2T FUNDING PACKAGE While the powers that be may have a momentary truce, it’s rank-and-file members who could drive Washington, D.C. to the edge of another shutdown. Many of the issues lie within the DHS funding bill, which Democratic negotiators argued included several wins in their quest to rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That bill passed through the House Thursday, with tepid support from House Democrats. Only seven broke from their colleagues, a sign that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., and his leadership team will have their work cut out for them in the upcoming week. And now, they’ll have to wrangle Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who on Friday announced in a statement that he would not back the broader package. Kaine wanted to see a much broader swath of constraints baked into the behemoth funding package, including safeguards against Trump’s war powers, the firing of federal workers, and DHS and ICE retribution against his home state. SENATE ADVANCES $174B PACKAGE AS MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING FUELS DHS FUNDING FIGHT "We are not living in normal times," Kaine said. "The president is acting chaotically and unlawfully, and we shouldn’t give his deranged decisions the imprimatur of congressional approval by passing this legi…