US senators scrambled Friday to pass a deal backed by President Donald Trump to limit the effects of a government shutdown set to begin within hours, after Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters by immigration agents derailed funding talks.Congress is racing against the clock as funding for large parts of the federal government expires at midnight, triggering a now unavoidable stoppage — at least through the weekend — even if senators manage to approve the compromise later in the day.The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis have become the central fault line in the budget fight, with Democrats refusing to support new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without changes to immigration enforcement tactics, which they say have become dangerously aggressive.Under the deal, negotiated by Trump and Senate Democratic leaders, Congress would pass five long-stalled spending bills to fund most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year in September. Funding for DHS — which oversees immigration enforcement — would be split off and covered instead by a two-week stopgap measure, giving lawmakers time to renegotiate the department’s budget and oversight provisions.Trump publicly endorsed the agreement and urged lawmakers from both parties to support it, signaling he wanted to avoid a second disruptive shutdown of his presidency. Much of the US media interpreted the White House’s new flexibility as a recognition that it needed to moderate its approach to deportations following the Minneapolis killings.But Senate rules requiring unanimous consent to fast-track legislation quickly complicated the plan.Late Thursday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina blocked the package from advancing, forcing the Senate to adjourn without a vote. Graham objected to language repealing a previously approved provision that would have allowed senators to sue the government for damages if their phone records were seized during a Justice Department investigation several years ago.- ‘Snags on both sides’ -He also raised concerns about funding DHS for only two weeks rather than the remainder of the fiscal year, arguing that the short extension would mean further uncertainty.Republican Majority Leader John Thune told reporters there were procedural “snags on both sides,” while Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blamed Republicans for preventing swift passage of the deal.Even if the Senate approves the compromise on Friday, a brief shutdown is still inevitable. The House of Representatives is on recess and not due back until Monday, meaning it cannot immediately vote on the legislation. Speaker Mike Johnson said the House intends to move forward once it receives the package from the Senate, but internal divisions among Republicans could complicate that process.A prolonged partial shutdown would affect a wide range of federal operations. Although Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual funding bills, those measures account for only a small minority of discretionary spending. The remaining bills fund more than three-quarters of the government.Democrats have remained united in opposing the DHS funding bill without reforms following the Minneapolis shootings, which have intensified scrutiny of federal immigration agents’ conduct. Party leaders say the two-week stopgap is intended to force negotiations over new guardrails, including tighter rules on warrants and limits on certain enforcement tactics.Some Republicans have acknowledged the need for changes in the wake of the killings, while others argue Democrats are exploiting the funding deadline to constrain immigration enforcement. Conservatives have signaled they will push their own priorities during the upcoming DHS talks, including measures targeting so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.With hours remaining before funding lapses, Senate leaders were still trying to secure agreement from all 100 senators to move the Trump-backed deal quickly. 

The Trump administration said Friday that it had ordered the arrest of a prominent journalist over coverage of immigration protests in Minneapolis, as the president branded a nurse shot dead by federal agents in the city an “agitator.”The arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon came as President Donald Trump walked back his conciliatory tone following public outrage over the killings of Alex Pretti, a veterans’ hospital nurse, and another American citizen in Minneapolis.Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that Lemon and several other people had been arrested “at my direction” on unspecified federal charges in connection with what she called a “coordinated attack” on the Cities Church in St. Paul, the twin city of Minneapolis.Lemon, now an independent journalist, was among the reporters who covered a protest against the immigration crackdown at the church where an official with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a pastor.Lemon’s lawyer said he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight, adding that his work covering the protest “was no different to what he has always done.”A magistrate judge in Minnesota had declined last week to charge Lemon.Trump took to Truth Social meanwhile to describe Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse gunned down on Saturday, as an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist.””Alex Pretti’s stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer,” Trump wrote.Footage shared online this week reportedly shows Pretti in a scuffle with federal agents 11 days before he was shot dead.AFP could not immediately verify the footage, in which a man said to be Pretti is seen kicking and breaking the taillight of the agents’ car before they emerge and tackle him to the ground.- Government shutdown -The White House had scrambled to stem widespread outrage over Pretti’s killing, which came weeks after Renee Good, another US citizen and mother of three, was fatally shot by agents in Minneapolis.Trump claimed he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in the fallout of the killings and appointed a new point man in Minneapolis, border chief Tom Homan, who said on Thursday that some federal agents could be withdrawn from the city.Trump sent Homan to Minnesota to take control of immigration operations with orders to report directly to him, effectively sidelining Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem.Homan said at his first news conference in the Minnesota city on Thursday that “certain improvements could and should be made,” a marked difference in tone from his predecessor on the ground, combative Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino.Homan said his staff was “working on a drawdown plan” for some of the more than 3,000 federal agents who have been taking part in “Operation Metro Surge” contingent on receiving greater cooperation from the local authorities in the Democratic-run city.The two agents involved in Pretti’s shooting have been placed on leave, and Homan said any federal agents who breach standards of conduct “will be dealt with.”Backlash over the deaths of Pretti and Good has landed in Congress, with the Senate edging closer to a vote on Friday to limit the effects of a government shutdown set to begin at midnight.Democrats have drawn a red line around funding for the Department of Homeland Security, demanding it be stripped out and renegotiated to impose new constraints on immigration enforcement agencies.