Partial Government Shutdown Begins as House Awaits Senate-Passed Deal

Part of the federal government shut down early Saturday after funding for several agencies expired at 12 a.m., hours after the Senate passed a spending package that the House has not yet approved, CNBC and CBS News reported. The House is not scheduled to return until Monday, so officials expect the lapse to be short.

Late Friday the Senate voted 71 to 29 to approve a package of five full-year funding bills, CBS reported. It also approved a continuing resolution to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks by voice vote. The deal was struck between Senate Democrats and the White House, as CBS reported on Thursday, and removed DHS from the larger package.

Appropriations lapsed for the departments of Defense, State, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury, including the IRS, CBS said. Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, the FDA, Commerce, Justice, NASA, Energy, Interior and the EPA are funded through September. Budget Director Russell Vought told agency heads in a memo that employees should report for their next scheduled shift to begin orderly shutdown activities, adding, “It is our hope that this lapse will be short,” CNBC reported.

The Senate vote was delayed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who held up the measure unless he got a vote on his sanctuary-city bill, CNBC reported. He also objected to a House provision repealing a law that let senators sue over obtained phone records. Graham had called the deal “a bad deal” for ICE and DHS personnel, according to CBS News on Jan. 30.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said he will back the Senate deal because President Donald Trump supports it and hopes the House passes it Monday, CNBC reported. The House Rules Committee meets at 4 p.m. Eastern to consider it, CBS said. But Johnson’s majority is razor thin, and some House conservatives want changes to the DHS bill or the broader package and have warned they could withhold votes on the procedural rule, CBS reported. If the package stalls, Johnson could use a suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds support, so Democrats could help pass it if hardliners resist.

The dispute that split DHS from the rest began after federal immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would not back the package unless DHS funding was removed, CBS reported, and his demands include ending roving immigration patrols, banning masks and tightening warrant requirements. Republicans have urged Democrats to take their requests for reforms to the Trump administration rather than attach them to funding legislation, according to CBS.

Even with its annual funding in question, DHS is largely insulated from the lapse. CBS reported that last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided about $165 billion for the department, including $75 billion for ICE and $65 billion for Customs and Border Protection, so immigration enforcement is not expected to be affected.

For federal workers, essential employees work without pay and receive back pay after funding resumes, while nonessential employees are generally furloughed, with back pay expected, CBS said. Last year’s shutdown lasted a record 43 days and led to flight cancellations as unpaid air traffic controllers and airport security staff missed work. CBS reported that the current lapse is unlikely to have a major impact if the House acts quickly.