WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight, the federal government is headed for another partial shutdown.
Congress is gridlocked over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The deadline is just hours away and lawmakers have already left Washington.
While the rest of the federal government is funded through September, DHS funding remains in limbo. Funding for the department is set to expire Friday night. If it does, it will be the third shutdown of President Trump’s second term.
“We’ll see what happens. We have, as we always have to protect our law enforcement,” said President Trump.
Democrats blocked the DHS funding bill Thursday, demanding changes to immigration enforcement operations — specifically ICE — after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.
“Violent, excessive and unprofessional tactics,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. “These actions have been carried out by masked federal officers without appropriate identification.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat who voted to fund DHS. Still, Fetterman believes that ICE needs reforms.
“A lot of people, including myself, would like to see some changes made,” said Fetterman.
However, the Pennsylvania Democrat says a shutdown won’t impact the agency’s functionality.
“ICE already has $75 billion in funding from the big, beautiful bill — that I did not vote for,” said Fetterman.
At midnight, DHS funding will lapse, resulting in a partial shutdown. The isn’t whether it will happen — it’s how long it lasts and who will feel it first.
“Some people call it the Department of Homeland Security appropriations. I call it the American family safety and security appropriations. It includes TSA and FEMA and the Coast Guard,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa.
Agencies like FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard and cybersecurity could feel the squeeze first. Complicating matters further, is the fact that Congress has left town and is scheduled to be off all of next week.
