Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise over the holiday weekend in their battle over oversight of…
Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise over the holiday weekend in their battle over oversight of federal immigration officers that has led to a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. A partial government shutdown began Saturday after congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump ’s team failed to reach a deal on legislation to fund the department through September.
Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis last month.
Unlike the record 43-day shutdown last fall, the closures are narrowly confined, affecting only agencies under the DHS umbrella, including the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. But the work of ICE and CBP will mostly continue unabated, thanks to billions in funding from Trump’s 2025 tax and spending cut law.
The latest:
What is the impact on workers?
It’s up to each federal agency to designate which of its employees are “essential” or “excepted,” both of which mean the same thing in this case. They keep working during a shutdown, typically without being paid until government funding is restored.
Some examples of “essential” employees are military personnel, airport security screeners and law enforcement officers. There can be a wide range, from positions deemed critical for public safety to those authorized by law to continue even without new funding.
Most of the more than 270,000 people employed by DHS are deemed essential, meaning that they stay on the job even during a shutdown. For the fall 2025 shutdown, more than 258,000 DHS employees were in that category, and about 22,000 — or 5% of the agency’s total employee base — were furloughed.
What agencies are impacted?
Other agencies affected are the Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The vast majority of employees at the Secret Service and U.S. Coast Guard will continue their work, though they could miss a paycheck depending on the shutdown’s length.
At FEMA, the shutdown will disrupt the agency’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs. Some workers will be furloughed, limiting the agency’s ability to coordinate with state and local partners. Training for first responders at the National Disaster and Emergency Management University in Maryland will be disrupted.
Why is a Homeland Security shutdown happening?
Essentially, it’s because Trump acquiesced to Democrats’ request that Homeland Security funding be stripped from a broader spending package to allow more time for negotiation over demands for changes to immigration enforcement, such as a code of conduct for federal agents and a requirement that officers show identification. DHS was temporarily funded only through Friday.
The rest of the federal government is funded through Sept. 30. That means most federal programs are unaffected by the latest shutdown, including food assistance, and pay for most federal workers and for service members will continue uninterrupted.
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