Anne Laurie

However, most House Democrats are expected to reject the DHS funding over concerns about ICE. Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said the Minneapolis killing showed that “clearly there are some common-sense measures that need to be put in place” to hold ICE accountable and gain Democratic support for the funding bill. The legislation could pass without Democratic support in the House, which is narrowly controlled 218-213 by Republicans, but it would require near unanimity among the GOP if all members vote.

The compromise bill would appropriate $10 billion for ICE while reducing funding for enforcement and removal operations by $115 million. It would also require DHS to use $20 million for body cameras for ICE agents, and include $20 million for inspections and oversight for ICE detention facilities.

The House is expected to vote on the package later this week, including a separate vote on the DHS bill. If it passes, the Senate would need to vote on the legislation next week to avoid another shutdown…

The agreement does not address the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the beginning of the year, but it does include a bipartisan health care deal that would restrict prescription drug middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers, extend public health programs and boost funding for community health centers.

Minibus is out. Democrats were able to include some guardrails in about ICE:
-restricts ICE to spending $3.8 billion of its annual budget
on detention as opposed to being able to spend $10 billion
-$20 million that must be used for body cameras 1/
www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do…

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— Eric Michael Garcia (@ericmgarcia.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 8:55 AM

Other aspects:
-de-escalation training for ICE and CBP officers
-training all law officers and agents, on Americans’ right to record any interactions.
-Provides line-item funding ($20 million) for mandated, independent oversight of detention facilities
www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do…

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— Eric Michael Garcia (@ericmgarcia.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 8:58 AM

Another big one "Cuts funding for CBP by nearly $1.3 billion."

— Eric Michael Garcia (@ericmgarcia.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 9:05 AM

These funding bills send a message to Trump: America WILL continue to fund cancer research, we WILL keep investing in affordable housing, we will NOT abolish the Department of Education—and Congress, not Trump, will have the final say on spending taxpayer dollars.

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— Senator Patty Murray (@murray.senate.gov) January 20, 2026 at 9:39 AM

the choice isn't "shut down the government or fund ICE", ICE is getting funded no matter what, the choice is "try to enforce oversight and spending or don't participate at all"

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) January 20, 2026 at 11:01 AM

1. In a major victory, Democrats have managed to get all anti-trans riders stripped from the final appropriations bills.
This includes HHS and Ed, which had the worst provisions in congressional history.
If it passes, it will be a big win for 2026.
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— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) January 20, 2026 at 4:20 PM

2. Early Tuesday morning, final appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education—and related agencies—were released, marking the last major potentially anti-trans funding measures to be negotiated in the aftermath of the record-breaking government shutdown fight in 2025.

3. Now, with the final bills released, it is clear that no anti-transgender riders were included—meaning transgender people will largely be spared new congressional attacks through most of 2026 should they pass as-is.

4. As the government shut down on Oct. 1, the state of appropriations bills needed to reopen the federal government for any extended period was extraordinarily dire for transgender people. Dozens of anti-transgender riders were embedded across House appropriations bills.

5. Those fears eased somewhat. In the months that followed, Democrats notched a series of incremental victories for transgender people, advancing multiple appropriations “minibus” packages that stripped out anti-trans riders.

6. Now, with this release, the final HHS and Education bills contain no anti-transgender provisions: no ban on hospitals providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth, no threats to strip funding from schools that support transgender students or allow them to use the bathroom.

7. When asked about the successful stripping of anti-trans provisions, a staffer for Representative Sarah McBride tells Erin In The Morning, “Rep. McBride works closely with her colleagues every day to defend the rights of all her constituents, including LGBTQ people across Delaware.”

8. “It takes strong allies in leadership and on committees to rein in the worst excesses of this Republican trifecta, Rep. McBride remains grateful to Ranking Members DeLauro, Murray, and Democratic leadership for prioritizing the removal of these harmful riders.”

9. This does not mean that transgender people will not be targeted with policies and rules that affect them in all areas of life. Trump will still use federal powers to do so. However, the lack of passage means that these attacks will only last for as long as we have Trump in the White House

okay with the minibus out i feel like the odds of a shutdown have probably dropped pretty significantly?

— Reconstructionist (@unavaleable.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 5:19 PM

i guess it comes down to House Rs spiking it, which seems unlikely because they've choked down everything else. I guess notionally HFC might finally say that backend impoundment is not enough but meh

— Reconstructionist (@unavaleable.bsky.social) January 20, 2026 at 5:20 PM