Senate Democrats are threatening to block legislation Thursday to fund the Department of Homeland Security and several other agencies, potentially bringing the government a step closer to a partial shutdown Friday if Republicans and the White House don't agree to restrict President Donald Trump's surge of immigration enforcement.
As the country reels from the killings of two protesters by federal agents in Minneapolis, irate Senate Democrats are demanding that officers take off their masks, identify themselves and obtain judicial warrants showing probable cause for arrests. If those are not met, Democrats say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and triggering a shutdown at midnight on Friday.
Meanwhile, FBI raid in Georgia highlights Trump's 2020 election obsession and hints at possible future actions. A federal appeals court ruled that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem acted illegally when she chose to end legal protections that gave Venezuelans permission to live and work in the U.S. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she's running for governor of Minnesota as a unifier who will take on Trump.
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Trump's Greenland envoy says administration wants ‘unfettered' access to island
Jeff Landry, Trump's envoy to Greenland, says in a New York Times op-ed that the framework of an agreement on Arctic security that Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte agreed upon last week builds on existing defense agreements between the U.S. and Denmark.
''It would expand America's operational freedom, support new bases and infrastructure, facilitate deployment of advanced missile-defense systems like the Golden Dome and crowd out hostile Chinese and Russian influence,'' Landry writes.
U.S., Danish and Greenland officials held their first technical talks on Wednesday aimed at securing an Arctic security deal.