Updated Feb 12, 2026 - Politics & Policy

DHS shutdown imminent as Senate leaves town without deal

Stephen Neukam

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, Chuck Schumer and Tim Kaine speak at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington about ongoing Homeland Security funding negotiations. — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), from left, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) speak after a Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 10, 2026. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lawmakers are departing Washington on Thursday without a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security — all but ensuring a partial government shutdown at the end of the day Friday.

Why it matters: It would be the third shutdown of President Trump's second term, with Democrats again seizing on government funding as one of their only points of leverage to confront the White House over its mass deportation program.

Despite two weeks of negotiating, Democrats said Thursday that they were no closer to a deal with Republicans to avert a shutdown. Democratic leaders are demanding reforms to ICE.
The standoff over funding for DHS started after a string of federal law enforcement shootings in U.S. cities this year, particularly the killing of two American citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The DHS shutdown may impact airport travel, disaster response and cyber monitoring starting Friday, Axios' Herb Scribner writes.

The big picture: The high tensions in Washington, and lawmakers' upcoming schedule, make it hard to predict when a partial shutdown might end.

Both the House and Senate are set to be away from Washington next week for a congressional recess, and many senators are departing for Germany on Thursday for the Munich Security Conference.
Senate Democrats on Thursday rejected multiple attempts from GOP leaders to pass a short-term funding bill for DHS. Democrats have said they won't vote for any DHS funding without ICE reforms.

But Republicans included $75 billion in funding for ICE in their massive reconciliation package last year, meaning the agency will still have funding despite the shutdown.

Between the lines: Democratic leaders said this week that they were underwhelmed by a White House counterproposal to their demands on ICE reforms. Other Democrats called it a nonstarter.

Democratic senators on Thursday reviewed and discussed the legislative text of the White House proposal, per multiple sources.
The sources said the proposal was being panned internally by Democrats as insufficient.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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DHS shutdown imminent as Senate leaves town without deal

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