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The third government shutdown in less than half a year officially began shortly after midnight Saturday, after Democrats and Republicans spent the past few weeks fighting over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Only one area of the government ran out of federal funds until midnight: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has completed about 97% of its annual government spending responsibilities, but a deal on DHS has proven elusive after Democrats abandoned an initial bipartisan plan released last month.
Now DHS, the third-largest Cabinet agency with nearly 272,000 employees, will see key areas of operation limited or suspended entirely. About 90% of DHS workers will remain on the job during the funding expiration, many of them without pay, according to the department’s government shutdown plan for September 2025.
Established in 2003 after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, DHS has jurisdiction over a wide range of agencies and offices. That 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.
DHS SHUTDOWN CLOSES AS JOHNSON NAVIGATS GOP DIVISION ON INTERIM SOLUTIONS
The United States Capitol in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2025. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
Among those working without pay will be about 64,000 TSA agents and 56,000 active-duty, reserve and civilian Coast Guard personnel. Those people and others are expected to receive back pay when the shutdown ends.
But as of Friday afternoon, it doesn’t appear the two sides are any closer to a deal despite the Trump White House sending out a possible compromise offer Wednesday night.
“We hope that we will respond to the unserious sacrifice that Republicans have made, clearly because things need to happen,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a news conference.
“There are a variety of different areas where the administration has clearly failed to do things that will make things better for the American people. Until that happens, unfortunately, it appears that Donald Trump and the Republicans have decided to shut down other parts of the Department of Homeland Security.”
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Democrats scuttled bipartisan negotiations over DHS funding last month after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during anti-ICE protests there.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on 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 Republicans in Congress have long criticized as failing, including banning ICE agents from wearing masks and requiring them to obtain warrants before pursuing suspected illegal immigrants.
What happens next will depend on Senate Democrats and the White House, who are expected to continue negotiating over the weekend and into next week if necessary.
SCHUMER AND JEFFRIES MEND RIFT PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE APPROACHES
Both sides have traded proposals and legislative text on a DHS funding bill, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus remained steadfast in their position that the GOP offer did not go far enough.
Meanwhile, most House and Senate lawmakers left Washington on Thursday and are currently 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., in the event of a breakthrough, and remained optimistic that there was a way forward despite the Democrats’ blockade.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., addresses an aide during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 3, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
“Every time this happens, we get one step closer, because I think the White House is giving more and more ground on some of these key issues,” Thune said. “But so far, they’re not getting any kind of response from the Democrats, they’re not even allowing us to continue this, allowing us [the] “The government must remain open.”
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But Democrats have reiterated several times that they believe their demands are simple.
“Once again, the only fundamental request is that ICE abide by the same principles and policies as every other police force in the country, and if we can get there, then we can solve the problem,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, gave House lawmakers his blessing to leave Washington with 48 hours’ notice to return pending Senate action, two sources told Fox News Digital.