Senate Dems take down ICC sanctions bill amid fury over Trump funding freeze

Senate Democrats revolted on Tuesday following the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze on federal aid by tanking a vote to sanction the International Criminal Court and promising there might be similar moves to come if the White House does not change its tune in short order.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were blindsided by the administration’s freeze on aid that included disbursements of grants and loans.

But Democrats reacted swiftly, headlined by the 45-54 failed ICC sanctions vote and nearly two dozen Democrats voting against Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s nomination despite a unanimous vote to advance him Monday night.

“We’re in a crisis right now. Donald Trump is making a run to take over all of government. The spending, ignore the rules, do whatever he wants to do — we’re not going to go along with that,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “So at this moment, we’re a ‘no’ on this bill and everything else that comes up because the urgency of the moment over what Donald Trump is doing outweighs any other [item].”

“This is a lot more than just the ICC,” she continued. “We are a ‘no’ because of all that Donald Trump is doing. We will not stand by, as the Democrats in the Senate, and let Donald Trump take over the entire government We’re a hard ‘no’ on that.”

The anger over the freeze was palpable on the Democratic side after the administration handed down the memo Monday night directing federal agencies to issue a temporary pause on “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.”

Persistent questions also forced administration officials to try to clarify the order's targets, insisting it has zero impact on Social Security benefits, food safety and a number of other items.

But that did not quell the concerns of Democratic senators, who complained throughout the day that their constituents were being locked out of Medicaid portals and that funding for police, hospitals and programs for homeless veterans were being affected.

“Donald Trump has done a lot of bad things in the last week, but nothing’s worse than this,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said during his weekly press conference, repeatedly calling it “cruel.”

“The blast radius of this terrible, unconstitutional and illegal decision is virtually limitless,” he added.

The ICC procedural vote came after days of questions surrounding how Democrats would ultimately land on the bill, as they were hopeful to avoid a repeat of the Laken Riley Act. A number of battleground state members and those facing reelection in 2026 indicated they would support that immigration bill without changes, effectively eliminating any Democratic leverage to make changes to it via the amendment process.

That could have been the case for the ICC bill, where some Democrats sought to find a bipartisan agreement to hold the court accountable for pursuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes. These lawmakers argue the ICC holds no jurisdiction over Israel and that the warrants create a false equivalence with Hamas. But Democrats demonstrated more unity in their concern that the language put America’s allies and U.S. businesses in the crosshairs of sanctions.

“The ICC bill is one I largely support and would like to see become law,” Schumer said on the floor ahead of the vote.

“However, as much as I oppose the ICC bias against Israel, and as much as I want to see that institution drastically reformed and reshaped, the bill before us is poorly drafted and deeply problematic. It will have many unintended consequences that undermine its primary goal.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) attempted to hammer out an amendment deal with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), but she complained on her way out of lunch on Tuesday that there were “no negotiations,” leading her to push Democrats to vote against getting onto the bill.

While three Democrats had signaled support for the ICC sanctions bill itself, two of those members who supported it in the House — Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — sided with the conference.

Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the lone Democratic “yes” vote.

Democrats were concerned with fixing the bill’s language that would help businesses avoid sanctions, which Slotkin pointed to specifically in her statement on why she flipped her support after voting for the House bill.

"In recent weeks, our U.S. businesses and allies have raised serious concerns over the text of the bill,” she said. “For the past week, I've been supporting negotiated language that would do less harm.”

Republicans acknowledged the funding-related uproar kept the bill from moving down the tracks but kept open their hopes of fixing the bill and eventually passing it. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) argued that the hopes of a bipartisan fix would only come when “the temperature goes down here,” adding that he was also “caught off-guard” by the administration’s order.

But for now, Democrats are keeping their options open as long as this freeze remains in place, including voting against Trump nominees as they hit the floor.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday teed up a quartet of nominees for votes in the coming days: former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) for Interior secretary, Chris Wright to head the Department of Energy and former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) to become Veterans Affairs secretary.

But after Duffy lost 22 Democrats overnight, more could follow to oppose these choices.

“[Trump] wants to declare himself king, and we are going to do everything we can to stop him,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), declining to discuss nomination plans specifically.

“We are going to be a loyal opposition,” he continued. “And use every tool we have to reverse this unlawful and irresponsible decision.”

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