The U.S. government has entered a partial shutdown after Congress failed to meet a deadline of midnight on Friday to complete work on a spending package to prevent funding from running out across multiple federal departments.
While funding has technically expired, Congress appears within striking distance of breaking the impasse that has led funds to expire across large stretches of government, including the Department of Defense, the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
On Friday, the Senate approved legislation to fund each of these remaining government agencies through the end of the fiscal year in September, while also agreeing to a two-week stopgap bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. That two-week continuing resolution is designed to allow lawmakers to negotiate reforms at the agency after federal immigration officers in Minnesota killed two U.S. citizens this month.
However, the legislation must now be approved by the House, which is on recess until Monday. President Trump has already endorsed the package, and lawmakers in the lower chamber are expected to vote on it soon after their return to Washington.
Just a week ago, Congress appeared on track to approve nearly $1.3 trillion in spending for defense, health, transportation, housing and more in a single package before the deadline.
But the second deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers upended those plans, as Democrats pledged to withhold support for the funding package without policy changes on immigration enforcement.
Now that the Senate has voted, the fate of the legislation moves to the House. Here’s what to know:
House recess makes a short-term funding lapse inevitable
Under the Senate agreement, Senators voted on five appropriations bills — Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; State; and Financial services and general government — to fund those agencies through September. They also approved a two-week extension of Homeland Security funding to give negotiators more time to consider potential reforms.
But the House, which had previously approved a package to fund all six departments, needs to vote again on the amended package.
If lawmakers act quickly upon returning Monday, the effects of a shutdown could be extremely limited, as most federal offices are closed on the weekend.
But the package could face further hurdles in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., holds a razor thin majority. The conservative House Freedom Caucus voiced opposition to the plan earlier this week, and the measure will first need to advance through the Rules Committee, where Republican defections could prevent the package from getting to the floor.
What Democrats are asking for
Democrats are calling for broad changes to the way federal immigration officers carry out their work. This includes barring them from wearing masks, requiring body cameras and creating a uniform code of conduct and use-of-force rules.
Democrats are asking for rules on the kinds of warrants immigration officers can use to enter homes and an end to so-called “roving patrols” when officers conduct broad searches and stops of people they suspect of being in the country illegally.
They also want to make it easier to pursue legal action against immigration officers and “independent investigations” into misconduct by federal officers.
And, they also want to mandate that agents display clearer identification.
Some of the recommendations could attract Republican support. In the wake of Pretti’s death, several Republicans expressed discomfort with ICE enforcement tactics and called for hearings and an independent investigation.
But divides remain within the party: Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican who sits on the homeland security committee, said he did not see a need for any further policy changes. He noted that the House has already approved additional funding for body cameras and oversight.
“We’re not going to keep ICE from doing their job,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. “The American people wanted the president to enforce law and order and ICE is doing their job.”
Barbara Sprunt, Ximena Bustillo and Sam Gringlas contributed to this report.
