{"id":460077,"date":"2026-02-10T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/460077\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:57:11","slug":"a-moment-of-truth-for-democrats-ahead-of-this-weeks-dhs-shutdown-deadline-from-the-politics-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/460077\/","title":{"rendered":"A moment of truth for Democrats ahead of this week’s DHS shutdown deadline: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the online version of From the Politics Desk<\/a>, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s edition, Sahil Kapur sets up the government funding battle that will play out on Capitol Hill this week. Plus, Adam Edelman and Jane C. Timm dive into the races to be the top election official in four key battleground states.<\/p>\n

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Wollner<\/p>\n

A moment of truth for Democrats ahead of this week’s DHS shutdown deadlineAnalysis by Sahil Kapur<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security is slated to run out of funding<\/a> at the end of Friday, and Democrats have issued a list of demands to win their votes to keep the money flowing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection \u2014 the agencies tasked with carrying President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n

Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, so Democrats\u2019 main point of leverage is the Senate, where the GOP controls 53 seats and needs 60 to pass a funding bill. <\/p>\n

The political environment is evolving in a way that has emboldened Democrats who want to take a confrontational posture. Recent<\/a> surveys<\/a> show Trump\u2019s approval on handling of immigration has tumbled, and that voters are registering high levels of disapproval of ICE. <\/p>\n

And a twist last week in a New Jersey\u2019s special primary election highlights the shifting mood within the party. Progressive activist and self-described \u201cagitator\u201d Analilia Mejia leads a multicandidate field<\/a>, which includes a former congressman and former lieutenant governor, and sits on the verge of a massive upset in a primary that\u2019s still too close to call, per NBC News\u2019 Decision Desk. <\/p>\n

Unlike her more moderate Democratic rivals, who took more nuanced positions, Mejia is explicitly calling<\/a> to abolish ICE. They\u2019re vying for a district that Kamala Harris won by 9 points and was last represented by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill. <\/p>\n

The political backdrop highlights the dilemma ahead for Democrats on Capitol Hill, where negotiations aren\u2019t going well. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a policy problem \u2014 top Republicans are cool to Democratic demands like requiring agents to remove their masks and obtain judicial warrants to conduct raids on private property, among others. And they have demands of their own, like cutting off funds to \u201csanctuary cities,\u201d which Democrats view as outside the scope of this negotiation.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a process problem \u2014 the negotiating structure is a mess. Appropriators are talking at the staff level, but numerous Republicans are publicly trashing the Democratic policy requests. Democrats say the talks would be better at the congressional leadership level but GOP leaders say they should cut a deal with the White House, like they did on the recent funding package, which had a two-week DHS bill. <\/p>\n

In other words, congressional Republicans have little appetite to play ball \u2014 the vast majority of them represent safe-red districts or states. If Trump agrees to a deal, recent history suggests they will likely go along. But they have some leverage of their own: ICE has $75 billion in funding under Trump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d that won\u2019t stop in a shutdown. And other DHS functions like the TSA and FEMA would take a hit. <\/p>\n

So any deal that can become law would likely be incremental, far short of the opening bid by Democrats.<\/p>\n

But if they fail to cut a deal with the White House, the party will face a moment of truth: Do they go along with another stopgap bill or force a DHS shutdown? And will that end differently than the shutdown last fall over the Affordable Care Act, when Democrats ultimately relented without concessions?<\/p>\n

Trump’s election threats shape this year\u2019s key secretary of state racesBy Adam Edelman and Jane C. Timm<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s call to \u201cnationalize\u201d elections and continued false claims of fraud are defining races this year for offices that oversee the voting process in key battleground states.<\/p>\n

Democratic candidates for secretary of state have put Trump\u2019s comments and recent actions by his administration \u2014 including lawsuits over state voter rolls and the recent FBI raid of an Atlanta-area election hub \u2014 front and center as part of a broader messaging effort focused on protecting elections. <\/p>\n

And the Republicans vying to be these states\u2019 top election officials have largely lined up behind Trump\u2019s aggressive approach and unfounded assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at how four races in key critical swing states are shaping up: <\/p>\n

Arizona: Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is running for a second term this fall. His sole Republican challenger is state Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who was part of efforts to file numerous lawsuits that sought to overturn the 2020 results in Arizona, including one that sought to disqualify the state\u2019s electors from casting their ballots for Joe Biden.<\/p>\n

Georgia: Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who rejected Trump\u2019s plea to \u201cfind\u201d more votes in Georgia after the 2020 election, is now running for governor this year. The GOP primary to succeed him features Gabriel Sterling \u2014 the chief operating officer in the Georgia secretary of state\u2019s office who emerged as a public face of the harassment and threats that election officials faced following the 2020 election \u2014 and Vernon Jones, a Trump ally who has backed the president\u2019s false voting claims. <\/p>\n

Also running are state Rep. Tim Fleming and business owner Kelvin King, both of whom have expressed concerns about the results of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

The Democratic candidates include Fulton County commissioner Dana Barrett, who\u2019s been an outspoken critic of Trump and his allies; Penny Brown Reynolds, a former TV judge who served in the Biden administration; and Adrian Consonery, a voting rights activist.<\/p>\n

Michigan: Democrats seeking to replace Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor, include Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Ingham County Clerk Barbara Byrum, both of whom have framed Trump and his allies as threats to democracy. <\/p>\n

On the Republican side there\u2019s Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, who has leaned into allegations of noncitizen voting as a major focus of his campaign, as well as Monica Yatooma, a business owner and Trump supporter.<\/p>\n

Nevada: Republican Sharron Angle is the only current challenger to Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who won the office four years ago. <\/p>\n

Angle, a former member of the state Assembly who has run unsuccessfully for statewide office multiple times, was part of a group in Nevada that sued to block the certification of Biden\u2019s 2020 election win in the state, citing allegations of widespread voter fraud. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f Related: State officials say the Trump administration has been absent on election security<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today’s other top stories\ud83d\udc40 Exclusive: Long before border czar Tom Homan took over in Minneapolis, he warned that a targeted approach to immigration enforcement would be needed to \u201ckeep the faith of the American people\u201d in an interview with Julia Ainsley for her forthcoming book, \u201cUndue Process: The Inside Story of Trump\u2019s Mass Deportation Program.\u201d Read more \u2192<\/a>\u2696\ufe0f In the courts: The Justice Department moved to dismiss its long-running criminal case against Steve Bannon, tied to his refusal to testify before the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Read more \u2192<\/a>\ud83d\udcdd Epstein saga: Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions from the House Oversight Committee, but her attorney said she is \u201cprepared to speak fully and honestly\u201d if Trump grants her clemency. Read more \u2192<\/a>\ud83c\udf4e Only in New York: Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., endorsed<\/a> state Rep. Micah Lasher, his former longtime aide, in the crowded Democratic primary to replace him, while former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., plans to endorse<\/a> Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy.\ud83d\udcfa ICYMI: In an interview with \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d with anchor Tom Llamas that aired during the Super Bowl, Trump took ownership of the current economy. Read more \u2192<\/a>\ud83c\udfc8 Political football: Trump said Bad Bunny\u2019s Super Bowl halftime performance was \u201cabsolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!\u201d in a lengthy Truth Social post<\/a>. And he called Olympic skier<\/a> Hunter Hess \u201ca real loser\u201d after Hess said he had \u201cmixed emotions\u201d about representing the U.S. in this year\u2019s Games.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today\u2019s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.<\/p>\n

If you have feedback \u2014 likes or dislikes \u2014 email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com<\/a><\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here<\/a>. <\/p>\n