A brief but loud partial shutdown of the federal government ended yesterday when just enough House Democrats joined Republicans in approving appropriations for a host of major departments, along with a ten-day stopgap spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security. Now, supposedly, the two parties will negotiate over the rules governing the immigration-enforcement activities DHS supervises, particularly through its lethal ICE and Border Patrol agents.

But nobody believes these negotiations will go anywhere. Here’s how Punchbowl News puts it:

Is there any agreement that Republicans and Democrats could reach that makes some progress but leaves everyone a bit disappointed?

Probably not. 

Politico reports there’s “broad Republican opposition” to the kinds of restrictions on ICE that Senate Democrats have already proposed, which are themselves considered weak tea by many progressive Democrats, not to mention the grassroots activists who want ICE closed down forever. Meanwhile,........

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