A limited US government shutdown started on Saturday – the third one during Donald Trump’s second term – after the White House and Democrats in Congress couldn’t come to an agreement on new rules for federal immigration agents.
This shutdown impacts around 13% of the federal civilian workforce and is specifically affecting agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which handles airport screenings.
It looks like this shutdown won’t end soon since US lawmakers have left Washington DC for a 10-day break.
However, Republican leaders in Congress have stated that talks will keep going, and members should be prepared to return to Washington if an agreement is reached.
Back in November, a different set of issues caused a larger shutdown of the federal government that lasted a record 43 days.
Despite the halt in DHS funding, operations at the department are not expected to face major disruptions. However, travelers may experience screening delays at airports. If the funding freeze continues for too long, disaster relief efforts and immigration enforcement could also take a hit.
TSA officers are expected to work without pay, but trade organizations for the US travel sector and major airlines warned that prolonged DHS funding gaps could lead to longer security lines at commercial airports across the nation.
In past shutdowns, air travel disruptions typically escalated over time rather than immediately. Nevertheless, air traffic controllers working for the Federal Aviation Administration will continue receiving their paychecks as usual, minimizing flight cancellation risks.
One immediate outcome of this shutdown was cancelling an official House delegation trip to the Munich security conference. Democratic members such as Bronx Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi still went but did so personally.
“Some of us are going over anyway on our own dime to reassure and thank our allies,” Connecticut Democrat Jim Himes posted on X.
Colorado Democrat Jason Crow told NBC News that Republican House speaker Mike Johnson had instructed them to cancel hotel bookings, military flights, and credentials for attending the conference.
Ocasio-Cortez mentioned she attended because Democrats “want to tell a larger story, that what is happening is indeed very grave, and we are in a new era, domestically and globally.”
The core issue revolves around Democrats’ demands for new restrictions on immigration agents after two fatal shootings by federal agents last month in Minneapolis. These restrictions include requiring agents not wear face masks during operations and getting judicial warrants before making home arrests – demands that Republicans largely oppose.
However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection operations aren’t stopped by this shutdown because they were well funded through last year’s budget bill.
Before this shutdown began, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized his counterpart Mike Johnson for adjourning Congress instead of keeping lawmakers present in Washington to continue discussions.
“We’ve drawn a hard line in the sand on behalf of the American people, and we’re not going to allow Congress to cross it,” Jeffries told reporters on Friday. “ICE needs to be dramatically reformed. Period. Full stop.”
After Democrats turned down a White House proposal last Thursday, Senate minority leader called it “not serious, plain and simple.”
Schumer later shared a video on X showing federal immigration agents pushing individuals down and using pepper spray on them. “This is why Democrats voted NO on more funding for ICE. And we will continue doing so until ICE is reined in and violence ends.”
On the other hand, Senate majority leader John Thune said: “What it appears to me at least right now is happening is that Democrats don’t really want solutions like they did last fall; they want political issues instead.”
DONALD TRUMP TOLD REPORTERS ON FRIDAY : “WE’RE TALKING , BUT WE HAVE TO PROTECT LAW ENFORCEMENT. I KNOW WHAT THEY WANT , I KNOW WHAT THEY CAN LIVE WITH. THE DEMOCRATS HAVE GONE CRAZY.”
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