The U.S. government partially "shut down" again: the Department of Homeland Security faces a shutdown!

The White House has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to formally begin the shutdown process after its congressional funding expired at 12:00 a.m. local time on February 14 (1:00 p.m. Beijing time on February 14). This marks the third government shutdown in the past six months involving some U.S. agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security is the third-largest federal agency in terms of staffing, after the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, its main responsibilities include border enforcement, immigration affairs, disaster response, airport security, and counterterrorism.

It is reported that this latest shutdown will affect all functions of the Department of Homeland Security except immigration and border enforcement. Since last July, the large and comprehensive bill passed by Congress provided multi-year funding, so these two functions are currently still funded.

However, many other security-sensitive positions will be considered “essential,” and affected employees are expected to work without pay.

Sources say that although the shutdown officially took effect at midnight local time, many DHS employees have been instructed to report for their next scheduled shift and begin an “orderly shutdown”—for most employees, this will happen next Tuesday after the Presidents’ Day holiday.

According to the schedule, the U.S. House and Senate are not expected to reconvene until February 23, which increases the likelihood of at least a 10-day shutdown of DHS. However, some congressional leaders have indicated they may reconvene earlier if a vote on the bill is needed.

“I have informed everyone that if they (the bipartisan leadership) can reach some agreement for a vote, they should come back at any time,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before lawmakers left.

Why the shutdown?

On Thursday, the Senate failed to advance a bill that would provide funding for DHS for the remainder of this fiscal year, with a vote of 52 in favor and 47 against. This result fell far short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. The only Democrat to support the bill was Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who joined Republicans.

Subsequently, Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt sought unanimous consent to pass a temporary funding bill to keep the flow of funds for two weeks while bipartisan negotiations continued. This was blocked by Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Murphy on behalf of Democratic colleagues. Democrats had previously made clear they would not accept another short-term bill without reforms.

“The way forward is simple: negotiate serious safeguards to protect Americans, constrain ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under DHS), and stop violence,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. “Americans are paying attention to what’s happening in communities across the country. They know this is wrong. They know it’s over the line. They want Congress, they want the Senate to fix this.”

Last week, during discussions in Congress about immigration enforcement reforms following a deadly shooting by DHS officials in Minnesota and subsequent protests, DHS funding was separated from a larger appropriations bill.

This is why DHS is “alone” in a shutdown this time. Although Congress passed a funding bill at the end of January to fund multiple federal agencies until the end of this fiscal year (September 30), DHS was only provided with temporary funding at current levels until February 13.

In January, Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota, experienced unrest. After law enforcement shot and killed two U.S. citizens during an operation targeting illegal immigrants, tensions escalated locally. This deadly incident not only ignited anger in the city but also sparked large-scale protests nationwide.

Regarding this latest shutdown, White House Budget Director Russell Vought characterized it on Friday as the result of unreasonable demands from Democrats.

“The government will continue to seek sincere, bipartisan solutions to complete the appropriations process and avoid another destructive government shutdown,” Vought stated.