WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s day five of another partial government shutdown — the third shutdown in the past year.
The partial shutdown is impacting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees agencies like ICE, US Coast Guard, FEMA and TSA.
Democrats and the White House remain at odds over DHS funding for the current fiscal year.
“ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational manner and if that doesn’t happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. on Wednesday.
“Well, I don’t like some of the things that they’re asking for. We’re going to protect law enforcement, we’re going to protect ICE. You know, they’re part of this whole system that is working,” said President Trump.
Democrats continue to demand changes to immigration enforcement operations — including limits on mask use by federal agents and tighter rules surrounding warrants for searches and arrests. Both Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have come under intense scrutiny following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month.
“The American people know that ICE needs to be reined in,” said Jeffries.
The White House denied the latest proposal by Democrats on Tuesday. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump has not had any direct conversations on the topic with Democrats.
“It doesn’t mean he’s not willing to. I’m just not aware of any conversations that have taken place,” Leavitt said.
The shutdown is starting to impact operations and employee pay for those who work in the many component agencies of DHS: Customs and Border Protection; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Transportation Security Administration; Coast Guard; Secret Service; the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; Federal Emergency Management Agency and others.
However, the shutdown impacts will be mild — for now — on border and immigration agencies within DHS.
The passage of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill last July brought $178 billion in funding for DHS — the largest single package of DHS supplemental appropriations ever put before Congress. Those additional funds were largely steered toward border security and immigration enforcement. ICE received an additional $75 billion- more than seven times ICE’s typical annual budget of $10 billion- which will likely help the agency weather the shutdown storm.
However, for other agencies — including FEMA — that will not be the case.
As a result of the shutdown, DHS issued FEMA guidance on “restricting travel and certain operational activities.” We reached out to FEMA and asked if travel is being halted for current and potential future disaster deployments as a result of the shutdown. A spokesperson for FEMA shared the following release:
“FEMA travel related to active disasters is not cancelled. Due to the lapse in federal funding caused by the congressional Democrats, DHS issued guidance restricting travel and certain operational activities. These limitations are not a choice but are necessary to comply with federal law. FEMA continues to coordinate closely with DHS to ensure effective disaster response under these circumstances…
During a funding lapse, FEMA prioritizes life safety and property protection. FEMA continues mission-essential operations for active disasters, including immediate response and critical survivor assistance. While some non-essential activities will be paused or scaled back, FEMA remains committed to supporting communities and responding to incidents like Hurricane Helene… FEMA is deeply disappointed that left-wing politicians are exploiting this government shutdown for political gain, creating unnecessary uncertainty for emergency managers and communities across the country. We stand ready to resume full operations as soon as Congress restores funding.”
