DHS government shutdown is underway. Here are the services affected.
Washington — The Department of Homeland Security remains officially closed since funding ran out at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, after Congress failed to pass a bill to fund its operations before a stopgap measure expired.
Without funding, some DHS functions will cease, although the impact will likely be felt more widely after the end of the President’s Day weekend.. The DHS website states that if funding is stopped, the department “can only continue ‘exempt’ activities such as law enforcement and maritime protection.”
Congressional Democrats had made a number of demands to limit the government’s crackdown on immigration in exchange for their support of the funding measure, but failed to reach an agreement with the Republican Party.
After the filming of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents last month in Minneapolis, Democrats wanted a “masks removed, body cameras onpolicy for federal agents, new use-of-force standards, better identification of DHS officers, and requiring court warrants before entering private property. They also pushed to end the detention of people without first verifying that they are not U.S. citizens and to conduct searches based on a person’s race, language, accent or job.
Generally, those whose work is “necessary for the safety of human life or protection of property” will be required to work “as necessary to continue even without funding.” Federal employees whose jobs are “necessary to carry out the constitutional duties and powers of the President” remain unfunded, according to DHS’s 2025 defunding plan.
The shutdown will affect the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and other DHS agencies that ensure national security. About 13 percent of the entire federal civilian workforce is involved, with most forced to work without pay, according to data from DHS and the Office of Personnel Management.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought asked DHS to “implement plans for an orderly shutdown” in a letter Friday evening. He said the Trump administration “will continue to pursue bipartisan solutions in good faith.”
On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”” that Democrats are “ready to have a good-faith conversation about anything, but fundamentally we need radical, bold, meaningful, transformational change.”
Here is what will be affected if DHS is shut down:
Most DHS employees will continue to work
The vast majority of DHS employees will be exempt — meaning they will be required to work — under the department’s September 2025 funding sunset plan. They will not be paid during the shutdown but will receive reimbursement once the shutdown ends.
In 2025, DHS estimated that 249,065 of its 271,927 employees, or nearly 92 percent of its workforce, would be exempt and continue to work if funding were cut. But that number can decline over time as workers who don’t get paid, take time off work or don’t show up for work.
How would air travel be affected?
Air traffic controllers fall under the Ministry of Transportation’s budget, and that ministry’s funding for this fiscal year has already been passed. Air traffic control operations will therefore not be affected.
But the Transportation Security Administration falls under DHS, so TSA workers will have to work without pay. Ultimately, TSA and airport security staffing levels could be affected, depending on how long the closure lasts, so travelers could potentially see longer security lines.
Immigration checks will continue
The shutdown is not expected to affect the Trump administration’s controversial immigration control campaign, thanks to last year’s $165 billion infusion. Act on a big and beautiful billincluding $75 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection. The funding goes well beyond the annual allocations agencies typically receive and allows them to continue operations despite the closure.
The DHS funding measure that failed in Congress would have provided $64 billion in discretionary funding for the fiscal year, including $10 billion for ICE.
Vought said in his letter Friday evening that “immigration enforcement and border security operations are adequately funded.”
Secret service
The protective functions of the U.S. Secret Service, such as protecting the president and vice president, will continue. Other Secret Service functions at the White House are also expected to continue.
Coast Guard
The Coast Guard is the only military branch under DHS. It is likely that functions such as training will be suspended, but search and rescue operations will continue.
Fight against terrorism
Counterterrorism surveillance and intelligence gathering should not face disruption.
Other law enforcement functions
Previous DHS shutdown guidance stated that federal law enforcement officers whose duties include the protection of human life or property would continue their work, but those whose work is administrative and not directly involved in the protection of life or property would be furloughed during the shutdown.
Aid to disaster areas will continue, but closure would cause disruption for FEMA, official said
When funding has expired in the past, Federal Emergency Management Agency deployments during major disasters or emergencies have continued. But Gregg Phillips, FEMA’s associate director, told Congress on Wednesday that a shutdown would mean a number of employees would be put out of work and that it would “severely disrupt FEMA’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs and support our recovery from disasters.”
DHS guidance before the latest shutdown in late 2025 indicated that FEMA had, as of May, just under 25,000 employees, and that about 21,000 would have exempt status and work during a shutdown.
