"We're making people hurt": Democrats adopt new tactic to win DHS shutdown fight

House Democrats launched a discharge petition Monday to fund most Department of Homeland Security agencies while excluding ICE and Customs and Border Protection, seeking to end a month-long shutdown amid federal worker paycheck delays and threatened airport closures. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the strategy in a letter to members, arguing the plan maintains Democratic leverage while shifting blame to Republicans. The petition requires 218 signatures to force a vote, but Democrats acknowledge they need four Republican votes to succeed—a challenge given GOP lawmakers' insistence the Senate negotiate full agency funding. Some centrist Democrats criticized the tactic as ineffective, saying it prolongs shutdown without resolving the underlying dispute. Senior Democrats including DeLauro and Thompson cited the White House's unresponsiveness to immigration enforcement reform demands as justification for the partial-funding approach.