The Department of Homeland Security is just four days away from a potential shutdown, as negotiations over funding stall and Democrats lay out a list of conditions they say must be met before approving a spending bill.
If no agreement is reached by the deadline, a shutdown would affect multiple agencies operating under the Department of Homeland Security, including immigration enforcement, border operations, cybersecurity, disaster response, and transportation security. While some essential services would continue, thousands of federal employees could be furloughed, and key programs would face disruptions.
Democrats have made clear they will not approve DHS funding without what they describe as concrete legislative safeguards. According to party leaders, their conditions must be enacted directly as part of the DHS spending bill, not addressed through future negotiations or executive actions.
The list includes ten demands focused on oversight, accountability, and constitutional protections. Among them are requirements for mandatory body cameras for immigration enforcement officers, stricter limits on when agents may enter private homes, and explicit enforcement of judicial warrant requirements.
Democratic lawmakers are also pushing for measures that would prohibit the use of masks during enforcement operations, arguing that visible identification is necessary for accountability. They have emphasized that Fourth Amendment protections must be upheld, particularly during arrests and home entries, and that violations should be subject to independent investigation.
Another key demand asserts the authority of state and local governments to conduct their own investigations into alleged violations of state and local laws, even when federal agencies are involved. Democrats argue this provision is essential to maintaining checks on federal power.
Republicans have criticized the demands as overreach, warning that tying enforcement restrictions to funding could weaken DHS operations at a critical moment. They argue that immigration enforcement and national security should not be subject to what they describe as last-minute policy concessions.
With the deadline approaching, neither side appears ready to back down. If talks fail, DHS would join a growing list of federal agencies caught in the crossfire of broader political disputes, once again raising questions about Congress’s ability to fund the government without crisis-driven deadlines.
For now, the clock is ticking — and the outcome could determine not only whether DHS remains operational, but how its authority is defined moving forward.
