Cantwell Floor Remarks on Why She’s Voting NO on More Funding for DHS and ICE

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor detailing why she intends to vote against the House-approved budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency that operates Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“The question is, what are we going to do about this use of force? My colleagues are out here saying, ‘it's a tragedy.’ I agree it is a tragedy. They're out here saying that this situation shouldn't have happened. I agree. I don't think ICE should be in Minnesota,”Sen. Cantwell said.
“And my only question now is whether my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are going to stand up for the role and responsibility the federal government plays in oversight, in investigation and upholding the civil liberties of Americans in the United States of America when these incidents happen. The rest of this is just debate. The rest of this about how ICE operates, about how [the Department of] Homeland [Security] operates, about what you want to do about immigration, whether you want immigration reform -- the rest of it is just debate.
“The real question is, do you believe in these civil liberties of Americans or not? And when police or power by the federal government is used in an excessive way and it means the loss of life, do you believe in having an authority that investigates, that is transparent with the American people and holds that system accountable?”
Video of her full speech can be viewedHERE; a transcript isHERE.
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a package of six funding bills, including one that would appropriate the DHS budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the package by midnight on Jan. 30 to avert a partial government shutdown of the agencies that would be funded by this package.
Last year, Republicans voted to give ICE a massive increase in its budget in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,”giving the agency $75 billion, when its annual budget had been about $10 billion for years. The finalized text of the bill passed by the Senate was not shown to Senators before Republican leadership pushed forward with the final vote. In addition, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which is typically tasked with calculating the financial impact of any major piece of legislation, did not had time to give the bill a score before the vote. Sen. Cantwellspoke against the bill and voted against it on the Senate floor. The Senate passed the bill on a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance repeatedly casting tie-breaking votes, on final passage of the bill and procedural votes.