Partial government shutdown hits DHS after Dems blow up over immigration

The third government shutdown in less than six months officially began shortly after midnight Saturday, after Democrats and Republicans spent the past few weeks fighting over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

At midnight, only one sector of government was left without federal funding: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has accomplished about 97% of its annual government spending responsibilities, but a deal on DHS proved elusive after Democrats backed away from an initial bipartisan plan released last month.

Now DHS, the Cabinet’s third-largest agency with nearly 272,000 employees, will see its key areas of activity limited, if not completely suspended. Under the government’s September 2025 shutdown plan, about 90% of DHS workers will continue to work during the funding period, most without pay.

Created in 2003 after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, DHS has jurisdiction over a wide range of agencies and offices. This includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Secret Service, among others.

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The United States Capitol is pictured in Washington, DC on September 30, 2025. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

Among those working without pay will be some 64,000 TSA agents and 56,000 active, reserve and civilian Coast Guard personnel. These people and others are expected to receive back pay once the shutdown ends.

But as of Friday afternoon, it did not appear that the two sides were any closer to a deal, despite the Trump White House sending out a potential compromise offer Wednesday evening.

“We hope that we will respond to the Republicans’ unserious offer that clearly leaves out things that need to happen,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a news conference.

“There are many areas where the administration has clearly failed to do things that make things better for the American people. In the meantime, unfortunately, it appears that Donald Trump and the Republicans have moved to shut down other parts of the Department of Homeland Security.”

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Democrats blew up bipartisan negotiations over DHS funding last month after federal law enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during anti-ICE protests.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill November 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

They are now demanding significant reforms to rein in ICE and CBP, many of which have long been criticized by congressional Republicans as doomed to failure, including banning ICE agents from wearing masks and requiring they obtain court warrants before pursuing suspected illegal immigrants.

What happens next will depend on Democrats in the Senate and the White House, who are expected to continue negotiations through the weekend and into next week if necessary.

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The two sides exchanged proposals and legislative text on a compromise DHS funding bill, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus stood firm on their position that the GOP offer did not go far enough.

Meanwhile, the majority of House and Senate lawmakers left Washington on Thursday and are not expected to return until February 23.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he would give lawmakers 24 hours’ notice to return to Washington, D.C., if there was a breakthrough, and remained optimistic that progress could be made despite the Democratic blockade.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., looks to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 3, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

“Each iteration of this moves us closer together, because I think the White House is ceding more and more ground on some of these key issues,” Thune said. “But so far they have received no response from the Democrats, even allowing us to continue, [the] the government must remain open. »

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But Democrats have repeatedly said they believe their demands are simple.

“Again, the only basic demand is that ICE abide by the same principles and policies as every other police force in the country, and if we can get that done, then we can solve the problem,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave House lawmakers his blessing to leave Washington with 48 hours’ notice to return pending Senate action, two sources told Fox News Digital.