Congress takes up ICE reforms, Trump calls to “nationalize” voting
Left, Right & Center
KCRW
3.9 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 February 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Congress ended a partial government shutdown, approving funding for several federal agencies through September. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees I.C.E and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, was not among those agencies. Democrats say they won’t fund the D.H.S without restrictions on federal immigration agents. In this shifting political landscape, how will congressional Republicans respond?
We’ll discuss the Democrats’ demands. How might congress realistically check President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, given the violent and seemingly indiscriminate tactics we’re seeing in Minneapolis and nationally? With the midterms looming, will it be possible for the two parties to come together and compromise?
Speaking of elections, President Trump this week repeated a call to “nationalize” elections, saying Republicans should “take over” voting in 15 states. Are free and fair elections under threat?
Here's the Carter-Baker Commission report.
Producer: Robin Estrin
Host: David Greene
Guests:
- Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
- Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to another left, right and center, everybody. I'm David Green. |
| 0:05.7 | I'm glad to tell you. I'm happy to report. Republicans got the job done. Our majority worked together, and we got the bills over the line. |
| 0:13.4 | So we've now funded 11 of the 12 separate appropriations funding bills for the government for the year. And that's a big achievement. |
| 0:21.2 | All right. That's the voice there of House Speaker Mike Johnson facing reporters this week announcing the passage of roughly |
| 0:25.9 | $1.2 trillion in federal spending. This averted yet another government shut down. It capped |
| 0:33.2 | months of wrangling over a package of 11 spending bills that will now fund the government until |
| 0:38.7 | the end of September. President Trump signed this into law just a short time after that. |
| 0:42.9 | But then there is that 12th spending bill, the one they did not take up, and it is the most polarizing |
| 0:48.5 | of the 12th. It funds the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and Customs and Border Patrol, |
| 0:55.0 | but also FEMA, TSA, and the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, cybersecurity, among lots of other things. |
| 1:01.3 | For Democrats, this is a moment for Congress to rise to its role as the founders intended, |
| 1:07.4 | their chance to check the executive branch on how America enforces its immigration laws, |
| 1:11.9 | and on the constitutional limits on the executive when it comes to applying federal force in states and |
| 1:16.8 | cities. ICE is completely and totally out of control. Immigration enforcement should be just, |
| 1:25.6 | it should be fair, and it should be humane. That is not what is |
| 1:31.5 | taking place right now. Dramatic changes are necessary at the Department of Homeland Security. |
| 1:40.3 | That's House Minority Leader Democrat Hakeem Jeffery is making the case for reform at the start of this round of talks over the DHS spending bill. |
| 1:48.8 | I want to start on the whole question of how exactly this would work? |
| 1:52.8 | How would Democrats and maybe enough Republicans craft a spending bill that can effectively counter President Trump's instincts to use aggressive sweeps as part of his immigration enforcement, |
| 2:03.5 | a policy that, as we know, has fed deadly chaos in a city far from any international border. |
| 2:09.5 | And then we're going to turn to the 2026 midterms and how electoral politics may or may not be |
| 2:14.8 | influencing lawmakers' decision-making here. |
... |
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