How a Dept. of Homeland Security funding bill set off a partial US government shutdown

A dispute in the US Congress between Democrats and Republicans over funding for the Department of Homeland Security has led to a partial government shutdown.

This follows around a year of unprecedented crackdowns by the administration of President Donald Trump on immigrants in different cities and states across the US, most recently in Minnesota, where two local residents were fatally shot by immigration agents.

This is the third US government shutdown in six months, and it is expected to last several weeks. The shutdown began on Saturday after the midnight Friday deadline for congressional funding for DHS passed. Both the House and the Senate are out for the week.

The Senate vote needed 60 votes to pass, and with Republicans' 53-seat majority, they were unable to secure enough Democratic defections. The lone Senate Democrat who voted with the Republicans was John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York described the Republicans' latest offer on Thursday as “not serious, plain and simple.”

How much money is at stake?

The recent measure that failed in Congress would have allocated $64 billion in discretionary funding to DHS, including $10 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

According to the DHS website, the department's budget for the 2026 fiscal year is $92,323,000,000. This includes $65,956,000,000 for “discretionary programmes” and $26,367,000,000 for disaster relief.

Because of the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, which included $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the current government shutdown is not expected to affect immigration crackdowns.

Why are Democrats taking issue?

Many Democrats believe the Trump administration has overreached in their immigration enforcement.

Democrats are refusing to support the 2026 DHS funding bill until Republicans agree to a series of reforms to ICE and CBP.

One of the Democrats' main demands is that ICE and CBP agents remove their face coverings, wear body cameras, and display their names legibly on their badges to make their identities transparent.

They are asking for immediate access to immigration detention facilities and access to attorneys for detained immigrants.

They also want to ensure that immigration agents do not target houses of worship, schools, hospitals and voting locations. Before immigration agents can enter private homes, Democrats are demanding that they furnish judicial warrants, a standard requirement for any law enforcement officer.

What's the Republican position?

Republicans are arguing that requiring immigration agents to openly identify themselves could endanger their safety. There have been several instances of agents having difficulties after their identities were made public; the most serious attacks have been by the agents themselves on civilians.

Many Republicans also want to reverse the status of “sanctuary” cities and states, which have limited or no cooperation in working with federal authorities to enforce immigration law.

How will this impact daily lives in the US?

DHS work is expected to continue. This includes immigration enforcement and airport security.

As of early Saturday, employees with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are working without pay at airports across the country. Depending on how long the shutdown lasts, airport security staffing could be affected.