.png)
2 hours ago
1
FIRST ON FOX: A union representing roughly 18,000 Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents is putting pressure on Senate Democrats to avert a partial government shutdown before midnight Wednesday.
Congress now has roughly less than 12 hours to keep federal agencies funded or risk potentially furloughing thousands of government workers and temporarily pausing key government services, with the Senate due to vote on a short-term bill extending current funding levels through Nov. 21 sometime late afternoon on Tuesday.
Democrats have so far stood firm in their demands for significant concessions on healthcare to be included in any funding deal, while Republicans continue to pressure left-wing lawmakers to stop the coming shutdown.
"On behalf of the men and women patrolling and securing our borders, we strongly support the bipartisan House-passed Continuing Resolution (CR) and urge the Senate to immediately pass and send it to President Trump for his signature," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News Digital.
SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS, WHO DOESN'T AND HOW MUCH IT COSTS
Perez warned that a lapse in federal funding "threatens our ability to do our jobs and our capacity to maintain the most secure border in our nation’s history."
"A government shutdown means we go without mission-critical funding for patrol vehicles, roads, radios, infrastructure and agent pay," Perez said.
"What our agents do every day — ensure the safety of the American people and the sovereignty of our great country — is not a game, it’s life and death. We hope our Democrat-elected leaders in Congress will stop playing political games and fund our government."
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., backed up the endorsement, telling Fox News Digital, "There is a sad irony in the fact that Democrats are threatening to hold pay for Border Patrol agents hostage unless we reinstate taxpayer-funded healthcare for people who crossed the border illegally. America’s Border Patrol agents are heroes, not political pawns for Democrats’ political game."
He was referring to House Democrats' alternate proposal for a short-term funding bill calling for a repeal of the Medicaid cuts passed in the GOP's One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB) in July.
The majority of Republican-led provisions in the OBBB that targeted federal healthcare funding going toward illegal immigrants did not make it into the final legislation, however.
Democrats have also been pushing for an extension of Obamacare subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic but are due to expire at the end of this year.
Republican leaders have signaled openness to having discussions on Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act, but ruled out their inclusion in the seven-week funding bill. They've also called demands to roll back Republicans' Medicaid changes a non-starter.
The bill, called a continuing resolution (CR), would keep current government funding levels roughly flat until Nov. 21 to give Congress more time to strike a deal on fiscal year 2026 spending levels. It would also include about $88 million toward enhanced security for lawmakers, the White House and the judicial branch — which has bipartisan support.
The House passed the CR largely along party lines. But in the Senate, where a 60-vote threshold is needed to overcome a filibuster and consider a bill, at least some Democratic support is needed.
The last time a government shutdown standoff happened was in March, when 10 Senate Democrats broke from their party to help pass the Republicans' CR.
There were no Senate Democrats from states on the U.S.-Mexico border in that number.
English (US)