STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Senate Democrats say they're going to block a government funding package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security until there are reforms to how immigration agents are working in this country.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer spoke with reporters in the Capitol yesterday.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: Senate Democrats are united on a set of common sense and necessary policy goals that we need to rein in ICE and end the violence.
INSKEEP: Either lawmakers make some agreement or there will be another partial government shutdown at the end of the day on Friday. In a few moments, we'll speak with Democratic Senator Adam Schiff. We begin with the facts.
FADEL: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has been following this and joins us now. Good morning, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK, so this same package passed with significant bipartisan support last week in the House. But then we saw the killing of Alex Pretti over the weekend in Minneapolis by federal agents. So how did that change what we expect to happen in the Senate?
GRISALES: Well, in some ways, it changed everything. The Senate is supposed to vote today to advance this $1.3 trillion package. It's a six-bill package, and one of those funds DHS while the other five addresses other parts of the government. And yesterday, we heard Democrats detail this list of reforms. They want to see input implemented before they support the DHS funding after federal immigration officers shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend.
FADEL: So what are they asking for?
GRISALES: They want to pass those five other spending bills in the package and leave DHS out while they renegotiate those terms. Schumer told reporters he also wants new rules set around warrants. He wants tightened cooperation with local law enforcement, create a new uniform code of conduct, as well as use-of-force rules. They want more accountability and transparency, including taking off the masks and putting body cameras on. But it's unclear if the Senate can reach a deal on this in time. Otherwise, we could see other parts of the government in addition to DHS, like the Defense Department, Health and Human Services, lose funding starting this weekend.
FADEL: And it takes months to negotiate...
GRISALES: Right.
FADEL: ...These bipartisan funding packages. So is it even possible for them to pass those kinds of changes at this point?
GRISALES: Well, it is a tall order. The Senate would need consent from all of its members to split up these bills, perhaps setting up a series of new votes, renegotiate a DHS bill in time to try and pass it.
FADEL: And how have Republicans responded?
GRISALES: Well, Thune and other leaders maintain they can't split this package up. They know it would be a hard pass in the House. Here's Thune.
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JOHN THUNE: I think it's really important, if possible, to do it here, not to have to send it back to the House of Representatives where the future of an appropriations package, I think, would be somewhat uncertain.
GRISALES: But we should note, we heard some mixed signals last night.
FADEL: OK.
GRISALES: Some rank-and-file Republican senators said they're on board. I heard one say at least a bunch of his colleagues would agree to the move. So it's an indicator of how at least some Republicans see this as a high political stakes moment to respond to Pretti's death.
FADEL: Are there any other ways they could come to a solution without the risk of this partial shutdown?
GRISALES: Well, Thune is one key Republican saying yes. He says Democrats need to work this out directly with the White House. Some suggest that could come in the form of executive orders. So we're watching ongoing conversations between Schumer, other Democrats and the White House for any clues of a different off-ramp. But we should note, many Democrats don't trust something that does not become law, so that sets up this stalemate with no clear solution at the moment.
FADEL: That's NPR's Claudia Grisales. Thank you so much.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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