Congress is preparing for a partial government shutdown. How is it different from the last one?
Same show, different day.
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 …
Same show, different day.
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 …
Congress is preparing for a partial government shutdown. How is it different from the last one?
Same show, different day.
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 …
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