Lawmaker urges funding for key agencies while ICE negotiations continue after two deaths

A lawmaker urged lawmakers to approve incremental funding for most federal agencies while negotiations over Immigration and Customs Enforcement continue, saying two deaths have made the dispute "beyond politics." "It actually is that Americans have been killed by an agency," the lawmaker said, adding that the agency "now has more funding than most militaries around the world, more funding than the United States Marine Corps."

The lawmaker named two people — Renee Goode and Alex Petty — and said their deaths transformed the debate. "When we saw Renee Goode and Alex Petty killed, this became an issue that was beyond politics," the lawmaker said, framing the fatalities as central to the appeal for prompt appropriations.

The speaker argued Congress had already funded "96% of the government" and asked colleagues to approve funding for the remaining agencies immediately so public-safety functions are not interrupted while talks over ICE funding continue. "Let's fund another increment of the government to keep everybody safe," the lawmaker said, adding, "Let's just do that while we continue these negotiations."

The lawmaker accused Republicans of using funding for other agencies as leverage in the dispute over ICE funding. "The real answer on the Republican side to why they don't wanna do that is they think that once we fund those other agencies that the Democrats will walk away from this negotiation about ICE," the lawmaker said, calling that strategy unacceptable. They warned against keeping the Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA or cybersecurity funding "hostage" in pursuit of leverage.

Emphasizing urgency, the lawmaker said the question of funding is "very, very time sensitive" and reiterated the push to separate most appropriations from the ICE debate. There was no vote or formal motion reported in the transcript; the record reflects the lawmaker's appeal and assertions during the discussion.