Partial government shutdown imminent as Congress leaves town

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Lawmakers have left town after failing to pass the Homeland Security full-year funding bill, ensuring a partial shutdown of DHS beginning Saturday.

This is the second time in less than six months that Democrats have forced a shutdown over policy demands, with the holdup this time centered around demands for immigration enforcement restrictions.

The Homeland Security bill is the last of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills not yet law. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., echoed his party’s position Friday on social media, saying he refuses to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless significant reforms are included in the bill.

“ICE is out of control. Republican extremists refuse to rein them in,” Jeffries stated. “Democrats will hold the line until dramatic change occurs.”

But the shutdown accomplishes nothing in terms of putting pressure on the agency or curbing its activities, because ICE is already flush with cash.

Riding on a $75 billion boost from Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill that became law last year, ICE has no immediate need of the $10 billion allocated within the Homeland Security bill. Immigration enforcement activities will continue regardless of the shutdown.

The funding lapse does, however, negatively impact other DHS agencies, including FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration.

Those agencies will have to scale back all but the most necessary operations. If the shutdown persists until the next payday, DHS employees – who collectively make up about 13% of the U.S. government’s civilian workforce – will miss their paychecks.

“We gave the Democrats a chance to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and federal law enforcement today, and they voted it down,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after the failed Thursday night vote. “They aren’t looking for a solution; they’re looking for a political opportunity. Federal employees should not be held hostage for another shutdown.”

While the funding lapse will have fewer obvious impacts than the 43-day full government shutdown from October to November 2025, it could again impact air travel if TSA agents miss their paychecks.

The Senate isn’t scheduled to return from recess until Feb. 23, although Thune may call lawmakers back if Democrats and the White House reach a deal before that date.

Among other reforms, Democrats want to prohibit DHS agents from wearing masks, racially profiling, indiscriminately arresting people, tracking protestors, or entering private property without a judicial warrant in addition to an immigration court warrant.

Other demanded changes include requiring agents to display ID, wear body cameras, and obtain the consent of states and localities to conduct large-scale operations, among other things.

Demands for greater accountability erupted after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in January, the second killing that month of a U.S. citizen protesting in Minneapolis.