Senator John Fetterman, a frequent independent voice among Senate Democrats, has issued a searing condemnation of the fatal shootings carried out by federal immigration officers in Minnesota. But he’s refusing to join his colleagues in risking a government shutdown over the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, as reported by The Hill.
The Pennsylvania Democrat mourned the loss of two Minneapolis residents, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37-year-old U.S. citizens who were shot and killed by federal immigration officers while participating in demonstrations against local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Fetterman stated that the victims “should still be alive” and confirmed that his family “grieves for theirs.” He called for the entire federal operation in Minneapolis to end immediately, describing it as an “ungovernable and dangerous urban theatre for civilians and law enforcement that is incompatible with the American spirit.”
This puts Fetterman in a bizarre position
This tragedy couldn’t have come at a worse time for Congress, which was just about to wrap up its funding work for fiscal year 2026. The House already passed its final appropriations bills, but the Senate is now in turmoil. The Pretti shooting appears to have jeopardized the chances of those bills passing the upper chamber, with key Democrats lining up to say they simply won’t vote to fund DHS.
Here’s where the legislative drama really kicks in: the DHS bill is tied up in a massive package, often called a “minibus,” alongside five other bills that fund crucial departments like Defense, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. These other bills have broad bipartisan support, so splitting them up is a huge headache.
Most Senate Democrats are now proposing separating the DHS funding bill from the larger package, stating they won’t vote for the current minibus version if it includes money for the agency responsible for the Minneapolis operation. Congress only has until Friday to pass the remaining six bills and avert a partial government shutdown.
Fetterman has maintained a hard line against shutting down the government, especially when military funding is involved. He said he’s “spent significant time hearing many different positions on the funding bills and maintain that I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department.”
Fetterman also pointed out that voting against the appropriations package wouldn’t even defund ICE, making the legislative fight somewhat pointless. He noted that President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” already provided billions of dollars in funding for DHS. So, even if the current bill fails, ICE is still flush with cash.
He concluded by acknowledging the political difficulty of the situation. “It is unlikely that will happen and our country will suffer another shutdown,” he said, regarding the possibility of stripping the DHS bill. Fetterman insists he remains committed to being “a voice of reason and common sense,” even if that means swallowing funding for an agency he recently condemned.
It seems stability and avoiding a shutdown are his number one priority right now, even over holding federal agencies immediately accountable for deadly actions.
Published: Jan 27, 2026 02:00 pm