The federal government partially shut down starting Saturday, after congressional Democrats refused to vote for a sweeping funding package unless it included changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies.
After several shootings by federal personnel, Democrats said they would not vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security without new accountability measures. But the funding was lumped into one piece of legislation with money for several other Cabinet departments — so blocking DHS’s budget closed those agencies, too.
The whole government closed in October for the longest period in U.S. history as Congress deadlocked over demands from Democrats to extend enhanced health care subsidies, which expired at the end of last year.
This shutdown is more limited, as six of 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government had already been signed into law. However, the departments still unfunded make up the bulk of discretionary funding and include some of the largest federal agencies, including the Defense and Health and Human Services departments.
Here’s what you need to know about the partial shutdown that began this weekend.
Why was the government poised for a shutdown?
When lawmakers struck a deal to end the last shutdown in November, they set Jan. 30 as the deadline to fully fund the rest of the government.
They were on track to do that at the end of last week. The House passed a $1.2 trillion funding package Thursday, despite concerns from Democrats about ICE’s aggressive actions against U.S. citizens and undocumented people without criminal records during immigration enforcement operations around the country, including in Minnesota.
Then federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. Pretti’s killing outraged Democrats, who pledged to block funding for Homeland Security, which includes ICE, until Republicans agreed to new accountability measures.
The Homeland Security funding was part of a six-bill package that includes other agencies. The Senate on Friday evening approved a bipartisan agreement backed by President Donald Trump to pass five major appropriations bills and a temporary funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security. However, because the House still needs to pass the package, the affected agencies were effectively shut down over the weekend.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has said his chamber will aim to pass the package when lawmakers return this week, despite frustrations from conservative members of the Republican caucus and skepticism from House Democrats.
Johnson predicted on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that they would be able to end the shutdown “at least by Tuesday.”
“We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town, and because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that we’ve got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own,” Johnson said, referencing a floor vote that is traditionally passed on party lines.
When did the shutdown begin?
The government was fully funded through Jan. 30, meaning a partial shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31. It will continue until Congress passes bills funding all or parts of the shuttered agencies, either by extending funding levels or passing new spending laws.
Last year’s shutdown, which stretched from Oct. 1 to Nov. 13, when workers returned, was the longest in the country’s history.
What services will still be operating during this shutdown?
Unlike last year’s shutdown, this closure does not cover the entire federal government — only the portions that have not been funded by the six appropriations laws already enacted.
Federal agencies have yet to publish plans regarding which services they expect to remain operating and what would be closed.
The Interior Department is covered by funding that has been approved, so national parks and museums such as the Smithsonian in D.C. should stay open. The Commerce Department, which collects some of the country’s economic data, and the Agriculture Department, which provides services such as SNAP, have also been funded.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency at the center of the shutdown controversy, was prevented from receiving $10 billion proposed in the funding package. But it can continue to operate uninterrupted because the GOP’s tax and spending law from last summer, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, allocated $75 billion to the agency.
The U.S. Postal Service will continue operating; its services are funded through the sale of postage products, mail and packages, and through a line of credit from the treasury.
Social Security payments generally continue during government shutdowns. The Social Security trust fund receives revenue directly through payroll taxes, not appropriations. The same goes for Medicare, the health insurance program for seniors.
What is closed during a partial shutdown?
Several government agencies are still waiting for funding to be approved, including the Labor Department, which collects significant economic and workforce data; the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration; the State Department; the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and the Transportation Department.
Staff could be furloughed from these agencies or required to work without pay, and services could be slowed or shuttered.
The IRS is also waiting for funding, meaning services could be affected at the beginning of tax filing season. In its planning documents for the October shutdown, the IRS said tax refunds would generally not be paid during the pause and in-person taxpayer assistance centers would be closed.
Jacob Bogage contributed to this report.
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