LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security expires at the end of the day.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Senate failed on Thursday to advance a spending bill that would have funded DHS through the end of September. Democrats have vowed not to support any bill without major changes to immigration enforcement. Here's Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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CHUCK SCHUMER: Today's strong vote was a shot across the bow to Republicans. Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos.
INSKEEP: In a moment, we speak with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego. First, the facts.
FADEL: NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt joins us to talk through all this. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So is this one of those days where the clock is ticking down to a shutdown and then there's a last-minute deal?
SPRUNT: You know, I don't think so this time. Both sides seem pretty far apart still. Some Democratic demands do have bipartisan support, like requiring body cameras for officers. But there are other proposals that Republicans have pushed back on, like having officers remove their masks. So I think it's going to be a holding pattern while both parties keep negotiating.
FADEL: OK. So a shutdown, though, doesn't mean there won't be money for ICE, right?
SPRUNT: That's right. A shutdown here does not mean a shutdown of ICE. And that's because the agency got over $70 billion in separate funds from Congress over the summer as part of Republicans' massive spending and tax bill. So other agencies within the DHS will be affected by a shutdown, like TSA and FEMA.
FADEL: Now, we saw top officials from ICE and Customs and Border Protection testifying before the Senate yesterday. But Kristi Noem, the head of DHS, wasn't there, right?
SPRUNT: That's right, and her absence was mentioned a few times. Several senators said they want her to testify before the Homeland Security Committee. She's actually set to testify before a different committee come March. And you might remember that almost immediately after officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, Noem described him as a domestic terrorist, and she later said that she got that information from Border Patrol agents on the ground. But yesterday, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told the committee he never described Pretti as a terrorist, nor was he aware of anyone in his agency saying that. And he said he couldn't speculate as to why she would say that.
FADEL: Interesting. So he's directly contradicting what Noem said. What else stood out to you in the hearing?
SPRUNT: Well, we learned some important numbers. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said that there's been more than three dozen internal investigations into allegations of excessive use of force by its agents in the last year. Eighteen have been closed, 19 pending and one referred for further action, although he didn't say which incident that was. And another thing that stood out to me, you know, senators spent a lot of time trying to clarify the use-of-force policies - how officers are trained in de-escalation. And committee Chairman Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, played a video of Pretti and officers. And he paused the video several times, stopping to show officers pushing a nearby woman to the ground, spraying Pretti in the face, surrounding him.
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RAND PAUL: I see nothing here, I mean, not even a hint of something that was aggressive on his part. Everything was retreat. He's over in the street. He retreats. He retreats. The woman is pushed to the ground. He tries to assist the woman to get up. He's violently sprayed, and it just continues.
SPRUNT: Now, the officials, in response, wouldn't give specifics about this. They said it's an ongoing investigation. They said the body camera footage would eventually be released. But Paul made a point of saying that ICE and CBP have to admit their mistakes in order to restore the public's trust.
FADEL: That's NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Thank you, Barbara.
SPRUNT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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