Federal Government Faces Weekend Shutdown Amidst Immigration Enforcement Debate
WASHINGTON - The federal government was poised to enter a partial shutdown just after midnight on Friday, a lapse that lawmakers from both parties anticipated would last only through the weekend, according to Time. The expected shutdown occurred even as the Senate moved to pass a bipartisan spending package that would keep most of the government funded through the end of the fiscal year.
The shutdown loomed after President Donald Trump made a rare deal with Senate Democrats on Thursday to carve out Homeland Security funding and allow Congress to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country, Fortune reported. The agreement came in the wake of the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, according to Fortune.
The Senate voted 71-29 on Friday to fund most of the government through the end of September, Fortune noted. The bill was then set to head to the House, which was not due back until Monday, Time reported. Lawmakers acknowledged that there was no practical way to send the bill to President Trump before the deadline, making a short shutdown all but unavoidable, according to Time.
Under the agreement, Homeland Security funding would continue at current levels for two weeks while lawmakers consider Democratic demands to unmask agents, require more warrants, and allow local authorities to help investigate any incidents, Fortune reported.
The shutdown occurred against a backdrop of protests against the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown, Time reported. Demonstrations were held in cities across the U.S. on Friday in response to the killings of two people by federal agents amid the aggressive enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, according to Time. Organizers called for a national shutdown day of no school, work, or shopping, and dozens of businesses closed their doors, Time reported. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were expected to take to the streets from Los Angeles to New York.
Minnesotans held a similar state-wide general strike the previous week to demand an end to what Minneapolis leaders have described as an invasion of federal immigration enforcement officers in the Administration’s Operation Metro Surge campaign, Time reported.
The pressure now shifts to the House, where lawmakers will have to decide whether to swiftly ratify the Senate plan, according to Time.
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