January 27, 2026

The murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday morning at the hands of federal agents has put wind in the sails of those trying to rein in the Trump administration at the same time it has sent the administration scrambling to regain its course. Popular outcry over the killing of a beloved ICU nurse for the VA and popular organization over the general violence of federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol have unleashed pent up fury over the actions of the Trump administration. The outpouring has reached as far as spaces like a subreddit devoted to videos of people playing cats like bongos, as Drew Harwell and Scott Nover of the Washington Post noted. The anger has been so overwhelming that it has changed the course of national politics.

Pretti’s killing has thrown into doubt the passage of a funding package that includes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Seven Democrats in the House voted in favor of the measure, which also includes funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Labor Department, and so on. The bill is one of the twelve appropriations bills that must pass Congress by the end of the month to fund the government. Part of their argument for voting in favor of the bill even with funding for DHS is that the Republicans’ July 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” poured so much money into DHS that it can function until September 30, 2029.

So until Saturday, the measure was expected to have enough Democratic votes to pass through the Senate. The killing changed the equation. On Sunday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issued a statement saying: “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”

Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY) publicly apologized for his vote for the bill. “I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis,” he posted on social media. “I hear the anger from my constituents, and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior and I must do a better job demonstrating that.” He called for Trump to pull federal agents out of Minneapolis.

Senate Democrats want the Republicans to take the DHS funding out of ...