Democrats found their new hill to die on.
The lead Trump impeachment lawyer just said he'd burn down the government over it.
And Dan Goldman just threatened a government shutdown for the most insane reason.
Goldman threatens government shutdown over ICE funding
Dan Goldman became a household name as the lead counsel prosecuting Donald Trump during the Democrats' first impeachment circus in 2019.
Now the New York Congressman threatened to blow up the entire federal government rather than fund immigration enforcement.
Goldman appeared on CNN Tuesday night and announced he'll vote against the short-term funding bill even though his no vote could have triggered a government shutdown in days.
Host Laura Coates asked if he'd support the funding bill that could prevent a shutdown.
"No, I can't support the continuation of this absolute terrorizing lawlessness," Goldman answered.
The House just passed the massive $1.2 trillion spending package to keep the government running past the January 30 deadline.
You read that right $1.2 trillion more.
But Goldman was ready to watch it crash over ICE.
In case it’s not obvious already, this is one of the Washington Uni-party’s ugliest tricks to ensure the government gravy train never stops – have someone team D come out vehemently in opposition to one element in a massive spending bill that most of the rank-and-vile voters on the other side of the aisle support.
The second part of the trick is to make sure it’s up against a deadline.
Trump impeachment lawyer compared border agents to Nazi SS
Goldman didn't just threaten a shutdown.
He compared ICE agents to Hitler's secret police while doing it.
"The notion of secret and masked agents asking people on the street for their proof of their citizenship papers, that is literally what the SS did in Nazi Germany," Goldman told Coates.
"That is authoritarian."
He went even further with his Nazi comparisons.
"And the notion that our own law enforcement, civil law enforcement, not even criminal, would be doing things like that, or things like barging into homes without warrants," Goldman continued.
"That is just illegal."
This isn't Goldman's first time comparing immigration enforcement to Nazi Germany.
Back in May, he held a press conference outside a New York immigration court where he called ICE operations "Gestapo-like behavior."
"I'm also, as a Jew, very familiar with the Gestapo in Nazi Germany and other forms of secret law enforcement in Russia and elsewhere that used fear and intimidation under the cover of night, under the cover of masks in order to terrorize people that they did not like," Goldman said at that press conference.
Tom Homan already explained why ICE agents wear masks.
They're being doxxed and threatened by leftist mobs across the country.
"Their pictures are being put on telephone poles in major cities," Border Czar Homan told Glenn Beck.
"These officers are under great threat."
But Goldman doesn't care about facts.
He's joined a growing chorus of Democrats comparing immigration enforcement to Nazi Germany since Trump took office.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz made similar comparisons earlier this year.
Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton called ICE "secret police."
Holocaust scholars have repeatedly slammed these analogies as offensive and historically illiterate.
Goldman's shutdown threat revealed Democrat priorities
Here's what has Republicans fuming about Goldman's threat.
He was willing to shut down the government to stop immigration enforcement while supporting every bloated spending bill Democrats cook up.
Goldman voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2023 that tried to rein in spending.
He's never met a government program he didn't want to fund.
But the minute ICE tries to enforce immigration law, suddenly Goldman discovers fiscal responsibility.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus — nearly 100 House Democrats — formally announced they'll oppose immigration enforcement funding "unless there are meaningful and significant reforms."
That's code for handcuffing ICE agents while illegal aliens flood across the border.
Many Republicans would actually welcome a shutdown if it meant stopping this $1.2 trillion spending monstrosity.
But Goldman wasn't threatening a shutdown over wasteful spending.
He was threatening it to both protect illegal aliens from deportation and to keep the massive spending train running full steam.
Trump already outmaneuvered Goldman's shutdown scheme
Goldman's political theater accomplishes absolutely nothing.
Trump's tax cut and border security bill from last summer pumped roughly $170 billion into immigration enforcement over the next four years.
ICE gets that money whether Congress passes a new funding bill or not.
Senate Democrat Patty Murray accidentally admitted this in her statement Tuesday.
"ICE must be reined in, and unfortunately, neither a continuing resolution nor a shutdown would do anything to restrain it, because, thanks to Republicans, ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap whether or not we pass a funding bill," Murray said.
So Goldman's shutdown threat was pure grandstanding for his Manhattan base.
But never forget the real goal of anything you hear out of all but a few modern politicians’ mouths is simple – do or say whatever will get them elected and re-elected so that they can keep enriching themselves and their pals at the expense of you, and your kids and grandkids.
Sources:
- Ian Hanchett, "Dem Rep. Goldman: I'll Risk Shutdown Over 'Terrorizing Lawlessness' of ICE," Breitbart, January 21, 2026.
- Sahil Kapur and Kyle Stewart, "Congress releases massive funding bill ahead of shutdown deadline as ICE clash looms," NBC News, January 20, 2026.
- Leo Briceno, "Congress unveils $1.2T spending bill as progressive revolt brews over ICE funding," Fox News, January 20, 2026.
- "'Gestapo-like behavior': Goldman condemns ICE detentions at NYC court appearances," amNewYork, May 30, 2025.
- Daniel H. Magilow, "Comparing ICE to the Gestapo reveals people's fears for the US," The Conversation, July 21, 2025.
