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A fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving federal agents has intensified political tensions in Washington, with several US senators now vowing to block government funding bills, raising the likelihood of a shutdown next week.
Funding for key federal departments, including Homeland Security and the Pentagon, is set to expire on January 31. While the Republican-controlled House has approved a stopgap funding measure running through September, the bill still faces a difficult path in the Senate.
Republicans hold a slim majority in the upper chamber but lack the 60 votes required to advance spending legislation without Democratic backing. That support now appears increasingly unlikely.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party would refuse to move forward with any appropriations package that includes full funding for the Department of Homeland Security(DHS). The agency is central to President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, seen as a potential swing vote, stated that she would oppose the DHS funding measure following the latest killing. She accused the administration of deploying poorly trained and overly aggressive federal agents without adequate oversight.
The death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, marks the second fatal shooting of a US citizen by a federal agent in Minneapolis within three weeks. Another Minnesota resident, Renee Good, was killed in a similar incident earlier this month.
Virginia Senator Mark Warner also condemned the actions, saying the federal crackdown must stop, warning that he would not support funding for DHS while such operations continue.
“I cannot and will not vote to fund DHS while this administration continues these violent federal takeovers of our cities,” he said.
Republicans had hoped to attract limited Democratic support for the spending package despite its inclusion of DHS funding, but resistance has hardened since the Minneapolis incidents.
If no agreement is reached, the lapse in funding could trigger another partial government shutdown, just months after the last one ended in November, following 43 days, the longest shutdown in US history.
With Senate rules requiring a supermajority to pass spending bills, the growing Democratic opposition has significantly increased the risk of a fresh shutdown as the deadline approaches.
