The U.S. government is on the brink of a partial shutdown starting at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday, largely due to the second recent killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis. It will be different from last year’s closure.
The killing of intensive care nurse Alex Preti, 37, sparked fierce opposition from Senate Democrats to a House-passed bill that would provide funding to the Department of Homeland Security and numerous other agencies. The more than $1.2 trillion package passed the House of Representatives last week and will account for the bulk of government spending for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
The bill would need Democratic support to pass, but would need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster in the 53-47 Republican Senate. Democrats are demanding that parts of DHS be stripped away in exchange for their votes, but Republicans have indicated they will not comply.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York suggested Tuesday that the Trump administration’s recent backtracking on immigration in Minnesota isn’t enough to allay the threat of a shutdown, making it even more likely.
“It’s up to Congress to fix it. People can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“For now, I will vote against any bill that funds ICE until it is reined in and overhauled and Senate Democrats are overwhelmingly united on this issue,” Schumer said. “If Senate Majority Leader (John) Thune insists on voting on a DHS bill he knows will not pass, he will ensure another unnecessary government shutdown this Friday.”
RS.D. Tune said on the Senate floor on Tuesday that Preeti’s death was a “tragedy” and required a “full and impartial investigation”. He also said talks are underway to break the impasse on the Democratic spending bill.
“Productive discussions continue, and I urge my Democratic colleagues to remain engaged and find a path forward that avoids unnecessary shutdowns,” Thune said.
If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, it would need to be reapproved by the House, which is in scheduled recess and has not yet announced plans to resume by the deadline.
In addition to DHS, the bill would also provide funding to the departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education.
If the bill is not passed by Friday night’s deadline, these government agencies will be stripped of their funding and placed on the brink of closure. That means “non-essential” employees will be furloughed and “essential” employees will work without pay. Spending the bill President Donald Trump has already signed would leave the rest of the government open.
“While necessary operations to protect life and property continue, workers performing these duties may not be paid while on the job,” said Caleb Quekenbush, deputy director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Agencies have a lot of discretion in who is essential and when.”
Government agencies typically announce contingency plans before a shutdown. So far, government agencies at risk of losing funding have not made public their plans.
Certain government functions, such as Social Security payments and Medicare and Medicaid services, typically continue during a shutdown, Quackenbush said. The bill that restarted the government last year includes funding for the Department of Agriculture through the fiscal year, meaning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program won’t see the interruptions it did last year.
There are still many services that can fail. The weekend closure is the first of the tax season, which begins Monday.
The Internal Revenue Service is one government agency that could lose money during the shutdown. Last year, government agencies continued some operations during the shutdown, but had to scale back some operations as the shutdown dragged on.
The IRS announced in October that most tax refunds would not be issued during the previous shutdown, with exceptions including Form 1040, which is an “electronically filed, error-free tax return that is automatically processed and can be deposited directly.”
IRS walk-in taxpayer assistance centers were also closed during the previous shutdown.
The Treasury Department did not respond to an email from CNBC seeking comment on the agency’s contingency plans.
The Department of Transportation will also be closed, although some key functions will continue to function. Air traffic controllers will be forced to work without pay.
The Department of Health and Human Services will also be affected. Some Head Start programs were forced to close during the last shutdown, depriving families of important child care opportunities.
But DHS will be able to operate almost uninterrupted thanks to funding provided to the agency through the One Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans enacted last year. The bill would provide approximately $178 billion to DHS, which could be used to continue immigration operations during the shutdown.
It is unclear whether other affected agencies have identified similar funds that could be used to continue operations. The length of the potential closure period will also be important in assessing how long the emergency fund will last.
“The longer this goes on, the more disruption people will experience,” Quakenbush said.
This story is developing. Please check back for the latest information.
