Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Democrats wouldn't accept a funding extension to DHS with just days left until a partial shutdown. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Still, Schumer and most Senate Democrats have criticized the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed the House last week and is expected to face a vote in the Senate.
The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and would establish a system for state election officials to share information with federal authorities to verify voter rolls. It would also allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if noncitizens are found listed as eligible voters.
Schumer and his caucus have panned the bill as voter suppression targeting poorer Americans and minority groups.
FETTERMAN SLAMS DEMOCRATS' 'JIM CROW 2.0' VOTER ID RHETORIC AS PARTY UNITY FRACTURES
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Secretary Kristi Noem's assertion of her agency's involvement in elections a "load of bull." (Ash Ponders/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Schumer also pushed back on comments from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who earlier this week said elections "may be one of the most important things that we need to make sure we trust, is reliable, and that when it gets to Election Day that we've been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."
The comments come as Senate Democrats and the White House negotiate funding for DHS, which has been shut down since midnight Friday.
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Part of those negotiations includes Democrats’ demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents be kept away from several areas, including schools and polling places.
"That's a load of bull," Schumer said. "They show no evidence of voter fraud. They show there's so little in the country. And to have ICE agents, these thugs, be by the polling places, that just flies in the face of how democracy works, of how we've had elections for hundreds of years, very successfully."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-says-dems-fight-voter-id-push-tooth-nail-balks-dhs-role-elections