How is the looming government shutdown different from last fall’s?
Congress is facing a potential partial government shutdown driven by a dispute over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, specifically billions allocated to ICE after recent controversial operations in Minnesota. Unlike last fall’s 43-day full shutdown over expiring Obamacare subsidies, this would shut down only parts of the government: six of 12 annual appropriations bills have already passed, and the remaining package ties DHS (with ICE funding) to five other agencies. Several Senate Democrats who helped end the last shutdown say they will not support the current “minibus” if it includes ICE money, and Republicans lack the 60 votes needed to advance the measure without bipartisan backing. Some senators propose splitting DHS from the other bills so 96% of the government can keep operating while lawmakers negotiate ICE reforms and oversight. The standoff follows protests after a Border Patrol shooting in Minneapolis; the senate plans to vote this week, and if no agreement emerges by the deadline, a partial shutdown coudl begin.
Congress is preparing for a partial government shutdown. How is it different from the last one?
Congress is careening toward the second government shutdown in four months due to disagreements over federal funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The shutdown Washington is preparing for this weekend has several key differences from the government funding battle last fall.
That 43-day shutdown became the longest in U.S. history, ending in November 2025. It centered on Democrats’ concerns that legislation to keep the government open did not contain a provision to extend Obamacare subsidies. And before the shutdown was triggered on Oct. 1, it was widely expected due to the known deadline for renewing the expiring Obamacare subsidies.
Unlike last fall’s controversy, the latest looming government shutdown would be only partial and stem from unexpected unrest in Minnesota. And key Senate Democrats who proved critical to ending the last shutdown have announced that they will not aid the Trump administration this time around in backing the Department of Homeland Security funding bill for ICE.
Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual funding bills necessary to keep critical federal agencies running. The Senate is planning a vote this week on final six-bill legislation to avoid a shutdown on Jan. 31. The DHS bill is tied in with five others that fund the departments of Defense, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education.
In the wake of sweeping controversy over ICE operations in Minnesota, Senate Democratic leadership has vowed to block the appropriations legislation from passing, as the DHS provision contains billions in funding for ICE. If Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is unable to reach a bipartisan consensus in the upper chamber by Saturday, which appears fairly likely, the government will enter a partial shutdown.
Under a partial shutdown, most government operations would remain intact, likely including ICE, given billions in new funding that the agency was allocated under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed into law last summer.
That marks a sweeping difference from the full shutdown last year. Over the fall, at least 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, while about 730,000 others worked without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Thousands were also laid off during the period, though many were later asked to return to their government jobs.
The latest shutdown threats come after Alex Pretti, 37, died in a shooting amid ICE operations in Minneapolis over the weekend, prompting more backlash against the Trump administration. President Donald Trump said the shooting, carried out by a Border Patrol agent, is under investigation. Protests against ICE previously festered in the state following the death of Renee Good by a federal officer earlier this month.
Several members of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted to end the last government shutdown, including Sens. Jackie Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Mark Warner (D-VA), Angus King (D-ME), and Tim Kaine (D-VA), are saying they will not support the “minibus” appropriations legislation if it contains funding for ICE.
With 53 Republicans, Democratic support is necessary to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance the legislation. King wants Thune to assuage some concerns by peeling the DHS bill off the other five funding measures, allowing most of the government to operate as normal while giving lawmakers time to eye reforms for ICE.
“If those bills pass, 96% of the federal government is funded,” King said Sunday during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. “Take up DHS by itself, let’s have an honest negotiation, put some guardrails on what’s going on, some accountability, and that would solve this problem.”
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FATAL SHOOTING OF ALEX PRETTI IN MINNESOTA
The Senate is set to reconvene to debate that matter and others on Tuesday evening.
“I think we have a problem, because I think we’re going to probably end up in another Democrat shutdown,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business last week. “The [last] shutdown cost us a lot, and I think they’ll probably do it again, that’s my feeling. We’ll see what happens.”
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