Evening Brief: Israel Returns Bodies to Hamas, Senate Blocks Funding Bill, Homan Outlines Drawdown of ICE Agents

Leadership on both sides tried to frame the setback as temporary. Allies of the bill say negotiations will continue, and a revised version is already in the works. Senators who voted no say the pause is the point. They want spending cuts, stricter oversight, or policy changes before they sign off on another trillion-dollar-scale package. Nobody is conceding ground in public. What matters operationally is timing. Funding deadlines do not move just because votes fail. Departments that depend on these authorizations now face renewed uncertainty, and contingency planning is back on the menu. Contractors, state partners, and program managers all know the drill. Slow hiring, delayed projects, and a wait-and-see posture until Congress gets its act together. Markets and allies tend to watch these moments closely, not because one blocked bill changes the world, but because repeated gridlock signals reduced maneuver space. Strategic competitors also watch. Dysfunction is its own broadcast signal. Expect a slimmer rewrite, louder messaging, and heavier arm-twisting over the next stretch. The Senate did not kill the idea of funding. It killed this version of it. In this town, that is not the end of the story. It is just the next round. White House Eyes Pullback of ICE Agents in Minnesota After Backlash In Washington today, the White House signaled a shift in how it plans to handle the deeply controversial immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that has dominated headlines, inflamed protests, and prompted clashes between federal agents and local communities. Rather than doubling down on broad street-level sweeps, the administration is now working on a plan to reduce the number of federal immigration agents on the ground in the Twin Cities, a move officials describe as part of an effort to calm tensions and address operational concerns. At the center of this potential adjustment is White House border czar Tom Homan, dispatched to Minneapolis earlier this week after two fatal shootings involving federal immigration enforcement officers sparked national outcry. Homan has been meeting with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and state Attorney General Keith Ellison to hash out how to change the posture of the operation. What he’s outlined publicly is a conditional and phased drawdown, not an abrupt exit. The core idea being floated is straightforward: federal agents would spend less time conducting broad street patrols and engage more with targeted enforcement inside county jails and state prisons, where they can take custody of immigrants with criminal records. Homan’s reasoning, spelled out at a press briefing, is that if local officials agree to certain access arrangements, then “more agents in the jail means fewer agents on the street.” That, in turn, would create room to reduce the federal footprint without abandoning enforcement goals. Importantly, officials have stressed this isn’t a retreat from immigration enforcement writ large. The administration insists its mission remains intact — illegal immigration still a priority, and serious criminal offenders still a focus. The drawdown is being framed as a tactical adjustment aimed at improving safety, professionalism, and cooperation, not a capitulation to local pressure. Local leaders cautiously welcomed the discussion. Minneapolis’s mayor called any reduction in agents a step in the right direction, while still urging a full end to the aggressive “Operation Metro Surge” that brought as many as 3,000 ICE and CBP officers to the area. Critics on the ground, however, maintain that unless the overall mission ends and federal shootings stop, incremental changes won’t satisfy community demands. Practically speaking, this signals a pivot in federal tactics, not a full withdrawal. The administration is balancing the political blowback from recent violence and protests with its long-standing enforcement priorities. For now, the message coming out of federal briefings is that a reduced presence is possible, but it’s dependent on the terms of cooperation with state and local officials.