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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes agencies that oversee immigration enforcement and disaster response, is expected to run out of funding after lawmakers were unable to avert a partial government shutdown.
The Senate adjourned Friday without reaching an agreement to pass the DHS budget bill. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives went into a one-week recess on Thursday night.
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This makes a DHS shutdown all but inevitable when the funding expires at midnight Saturday in Washington, D.C. (5 p.m. Japan time).
The impasse was spurred in part by a federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota that resulted in the killing of two Americans in January.
There were reports of masked immigration officers threatening bystanders and using unreasonable force.
On February 4, Democratic leaders in Congress released a list of demands calling for reform of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency under DHS.
The demands included banning ICE officers from wearing masks to conceal their identities, banning racial profiling, and ending immigration raids in “sensitive locations” such as schools and churches.
Without such “common sense reforms,” Democrats threatened to withhold a vote on the DHS funding bill.
But the Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump, rejected the Democratic demands as unreasonable.
Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives. But a Senate legislative rule known as the filibuster requires lawmakers to reach a 60-vote threshold to pass major legislation.
On Thursday, the 100-member Senate had just 52 votes in favor of the funding bill and 47 votes against. Nearly every Democratic member of Congress, except Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, joined together to block the bill.
“The Republican bill on the table would allow ICE to break down doors without a warrant, force people to wear masks so they can’t be identified, and use children as bait for their parents,” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a video message before the vote.
“We stand by our promise: We will not defund ICE until the violence is quelled.”
By Friday, many members of both chambers had already left Washington. Some, like Sen. Mark Kelly, traveled to Europe to attend the Munich Security Conference. Others returned to their congressional districts.
If the shutdown drags on, tens of thousands of federal employees could be forced to work without pay. Some government agencies may also have to cut staff until funding is restored.
Major U.S. travel and hospitality organizations, including Airlines for America, issued a joint statement Friday warning that the closures could cause travel delays.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which oversees airport security, is part of DHS.
“Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have critical TSA employees work without pay, increasing the risk of unscheduled absences and call-outs that can ultimately lead to increased wait times and flight cancellations and delays,” the group said.
However, DHS’ immigration operations will be largely unaffected by the closure.
ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been allocated billions of dollars through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Congress passed last year.
U.S. lawmakers often use government funds as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from political opponents.
Last year, Democrats unsuccessfully tried to stop Republicans from cutting health care subsidies, leading to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, lasting 43 days.
Earlier this month, lawmakers agreed to a budget that funds the government through the end of September, but the government only allocated funding to DHS for two weeks.
The DHS closure comes a day after the Trump administration announced it would end immigration operations in Minnesota.
The impasse over DHS funding highlights Democrats’ growing anger over ICE’s aggressive tactics and President Trump’s mass deportation campaign, and the issue is likely to be a key issue in the November midterm elections.
A recent poll conducted by news agencies PBS News and NPR and research firm Marist found that 65% of respondents said ICE is going too far in its enforcement efforts.
