US Senate fails to advance funding package as partial govt shutdown looms

WASHINGTON -- The US Senate on Thursday failed to advance a funding package amid disputes over immigration policy, increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown.

The upper chamber voted 45-55 in a procedural vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance the House-approved funding package.

With Democrats holding 47 seats in the Senate, the vote tally showed that several Republicans also voted against the plan.

The recent two fatal shootings by federal enforcement in Minneapolis have prompted Democrats to seek changes to how immigration agencies operate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that until Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is properly reined in and overhauled legislatively, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill does not have the votes to pass the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that he would "reserve optionality" to consider passing the five other funding bills while also considering a short-term continuing resolution for DHS.

DHS and its agency ICE will be able to largely operate without interruption even if their funding is stripped out of the annual funding package, because the One Big Beautiful Bill -- a massive tax and spending bill approved in July 2025 -- provided DHS with roughly 178 billion dollars.

Schumer has outlined Democrats' demands on Wednesday, including ending roving patrols, tightening warrant rules, imposing an enforceable code of conduct that holds federal agents to the same use-of-force standards as local law enforcement, as well as a "masks off, body cameras on" policy for federal agents.

"Eleventh-hour" talks between the two parties continue to avoid a "costly partial government shutdown" that looms at the week's end, according to CNN. "We're getting closer. Hope it lands," Thune said ahead of the procedural vote.

Even if a deal is reached, the bill would have to be approved by both the Senate and the House, which is on recess this week until Monday.

The standoff threatened to plunge the country into another federal government shutdown only two months after a 43-day shutdown -- the longest in US history.

Multiple US federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, would see their funding lapse beginning Saturday.