The Department of Homeland Security remains shut down, now running on limited funds for two consecutive months as Congress has failed to pass a full-year appropriation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has faced criticism from both sides of the aisle after opposing, then supporting, then failing to act on a Senate-approved package to fund most of DHS operations.
The ongoing stalemate has left agencies including TSA, ICE, and Customs and Border Protection in fiscal limbo. Lawmakers departed for the holiday recess while DHS funding remained unresolved, prompting frustration from stakeholders across the political spectrum.
What the Right Is Saying
House Republicans have blamed Democrats for refusing to support funding measures that include stronger border security provisions. House Freedom Caucus members have insisted that any DHS funding bill must include provisions for increased detention capacity and changes to asylum policies.
Speaker Johnson has argued that using the budget reconciliation process is necessary given Democratic opposition to border security funding. The Louisiana Republican has noted that reconciliation allows Republicans to pass DHS funding with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.
What the Left Is Saying
Democrats have criticized Republicans for what they describe as a manufactured crisis driven by internal party divisions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called the shutdown unnecessary, noting that a bipartisan Senate bill previously passed with broad support but failed to advance in the House.
Progressive groups have also pointed to the human cost of the shutdown, with labor unions representing TSA workers and other DHS employees calling for immediate action. The American Federation of Government Employees has warned that workers are being asked to report for duty without pay, creating financial hardship for thousands of federal employees and their families.
What the Numbers Show
DHS has now been unfunded or operating on interim spending bills since October 2025. The current partial shutdown marks the longest stretch of uncertainty for the department in recent history. Congressional Republicans initially passed a budget resolution through reconciliation in early 2026, but the process has encountered procedural obstacles.
The Senate-approved DHS funding bill passed with bipartisan support in February, but the House failed to take it up before the recess. Trump administration officials have begun exploring executive branch authorities to continue paying TSA workers using alternative funding sources, a mechanism some legal scholars have questioned.
The federal government faces another fiscal deadline on October 1, 2026, when FY 2027 begins. Congress has not completed regular appropriations for any fiscal year since 2024, relying instead on continuing resolutions and interim measures.
The Bottom Line
The DHS shutdown represents the latest symptom of Congress's broader struggle to complete annual appropriations work. Lawmakers have relied on continuing resolutions for years, but the current stalemate has stretched longer than typical funding gaps.
Republicans are attempting to use budget reconciliation to circumvent Democratic opposition and pass DHS funding with a simple majority. The party intends to include only funding for ICE and CBP in the reconciliation package, excluding disaster aid and other provisions. The goal is to pass a funding measure by June 1.
The use of reconciliation for appropriations and executive branch authority to pay workers without Congressional approval marks a significant shift in federal funding procedures. Whether these mechanisms succeed, they may establish precedents that reshape how future Congresses and presidents handle funding disputes.