Watch live: Senate Democrats reach an agreement with the White House on the government funding package

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and the White House have reached a deal to avoid a partial government shutdown and temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security as they negotiate new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s increase in immigration enforcement.

Watch the Senate live in the video player above.

As the country reels from the killing of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, the two sides agreed to separate Homeland Security funding from the rest of the legislation and funding for the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks while they discuss Democratic demands for restrictions on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The potential deal comes after Democrats voted on Thursday to block legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

He watches: Immigration crackdown heightens tensions as Congress faces threat of shutdown

“Republicans and Democrats have come together to get the government funded through September,” Trump said in a social media post, while extending existing Homeland Security funding. He encouraged members of both parties to cast a “much-needed bipartisan yes vote.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he was “strongly opposed” to dismantling the funding package, but “if it’s dismantled, we’re going to have to move it as quickly as possible. We can’t have the government shut down.”

Democrats have asked for a short extension — two weeks or less — and say they are willing to block the wide-ranging spending bill if their demands are not met, depriving Republicans of the votes they need to pass it and potentially shutting down the country.

Read more: Where Congress stands in the DHS funding battle

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans were pushing for a longer extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, but the two sides were “getting closer to each other.”

Rare talks between the two parties

The rare bipartisan talks between Trump and his frequent opponent, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, came after the shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Peretti in Minnesota over the weekend and calls from senators from both parties for a full investigation. Schumer called it a “moment of truth.”

“The American people support law enforcement. They support border security. They do not support ICE that terrorizes our streets and kills American citizens,” Schumer said.

With no final agreement yet and the path ahead uncertain, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another lockdown, just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over the expiration of federal health care subsidies. This dispute led to a 43-day government shutdown as Republicans refused to negotiate.

The fall shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to reach a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more united this time after the killings of Pretty and Renee Judd by federal agents.

Democrats make demands

As the gap between the two sides narrows on the spending deal, the duration of the temporary extension of DHS funding has emerged as a sticking point. Thune said on Thursday that two weeks was not enough time to negotiate a final compromise.

“We’ll see where the discussions between (Democrats) and the White House go on this,” Thune said.

Even if the two sides reach an agreement, future negotiations on reaching a final agreement on the draft internal security law are likely to be difficult.

Read more: The funding deal begins to unravel as Senate Democrats pledge to oppose the Department of Homeland Security bill over the shooting of Alex Peretti in Minnesota

Schumer said the Democratic caucus is united in “common sense reforms” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them.

“Simply put, what we’re talking about is that lawless ICE agents should follow the same rules as your local police department,” said Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota. “There has to be accountability.”

Earlier Thursday, Tom Homan, the president’s border official, said during a news conference in Minneapolis that federal immigration officials are developing a plan to reduce the number of agents in Minnesota, but that will depend on cooperation from state authorities.

They remain far apart on politics

As the two sides negotiated, it was unclear whether they could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats who want to end Trump’s aggressive campaign.

As negotiations continued, it was unclear whether all Democrats would agree to a temporary extension of funding. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said Congress should not send “another penny” to ICE until Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is fired.

Read more: Bruce Springsteen writes a new protest song for Trump called “Streets of Minneapolis”

Democrats want to end Trump’s aggressive immigration campaign. “If the Trump administration resists reforms, we will close the agency,” Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said.

“We need to take a stand,” he added.

But Republicans are unlikely to agree to all of Democrats’ demands.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he opposes requiring immigration enforcement officers to show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions he said “tarnish” the agency’s reputation.

He watches: Border Czar Homan says federal troops will withdraw from Minnesota only after ‘cooperation’

“You know, there’s a lot of bad people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know your kids or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said some of the Democratic proposals “make sense,” such as improved training and body cameras. However, he said he was alerting his Senate colleagues that if Democrats tried to make changes to the funding bill, he would insist on new language barring local governments from resisting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“I believe the best legislative solution for our country is to adopt some of these reforms to ICE and Border Patrol,” Graham posted on X, but also to end so-called “sanctuary city” policies.

Uncertainty in the House of Representatives

Across the Capitol, House Republicans said they didn’t want any changes to the bill they passed last week. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the Republican president and ICE.

“The package will not make it back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” they wrote.

Read more: Senator Collins says ICE ended its large-scale operations in Maine after talks with Noem

House Speaker Johnson appeared open to changes, albeit reluctantly, telling the AP that he wanted the bills approved “as quickly as possible” once the Senate acts.

“The American people will be hanging in the balance on this,” Johnson said. “Lockdown doesn’t help anyone.”

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Joey Cappelletti and Michelle L. Price.