As Congress battles over homeland security funding ahead of a potential government shutdown, Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman is calling to keep the government open while demanding an end to an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
On Monday, Fetterman called for the expanded immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis to “immediately end,” echoing the calls of his Democrat colleagues.
However, Fetterman has set himself apart from Democrat colleagues in refusing to trigger a government shutdown by voting against a six-bill funding package that includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I will never vote to shut our government down, especially our Defense Department,” Fetterman wrote in his statement.
Throughout the latest government shutdown, Fetterman consistently voted for a continuing resolution to maintain funding for the government and was one of eight Democrat caucus senators to cross the aisle and vote to reopen the government in November.
The federal government’s spending authority expires Jan. 30, and several Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., are demanding a separate vote on homeland security funding.
Currently, funding for several federal agencies is bundled together in the spending package.
The Department of Homeland Security encompasses not only immigration law enforcement, but also services such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard.
Failure to pass the six-bill minibus would also dry up funding for the State Department and financial regulators, as well as other agencies, including war, education, labor, health, and housing.
Fetterman argued that, regardless of the bill’s passage, ICE will still receive funding from the July 2025 budget reconciliation bill. He rejected “calls to defund or abolish ICE.”
He called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be removed over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota.
“I make a direct appeal to immediately fire [Secretary Noem],” Fetterman said in a post directed at President Donald Trump Tuesday.
“Americans have died,” Fetterman continued. “She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy. DO NOT make the mistake President [Joe] Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary.”
The Pennsylvania senator’s remarks on Noem and Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, are noteworthy, given that Fetterman voted to confirm Noem as DHS secretary in 2025 and voted to dismiss articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in 2024.
After the publication of this article, a DHS spokesperson told The Daily Signal, “DHS enforces the laws Congress passes, period. If certain members don’t like those laws, changing them is literally their job. Secretary Noem oversees the Department of Homeland Security, and she is very happy that Tom Homan, who is a great asset to the President, and has a great depth of experience and insight, will be overseeing Minneapolis operations,”
The spokesperson continued, “Under [Noem’s] leadership, DHS law enforcement have arrested and deported over 700,000 criminal illegal aliens. Over 2 million self-deportations and we will continue with that work.”
The spokesperson also referred to a statement to the press from Trump, who said Tuesday, “I think she’s doing a very good job… the border is totally secure.”
This article has been updated with comment from DHS.
