With US Senate still tied up over spending deal, partial shutdown begins at midnight

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., surrounded by snow and ice, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — The federal government hurtled Friday toward a partial shutdown this weekend, even though Senate Democrats and President Donald Trump reached a deal that allows lawmakers more time to negotiate new constraints on immigration enforcement. 

The Senate will not be able to pass the reworked government funding package before a midnight deadline unless all of its members agree to speed up the vote. Even if that happens, the earliest the House could clear it for Trump’s signature is Monday evening, when members return from a recess.

The procedure and scheduling problems guarantee the current spending law, which Congress approved in November at the end of the last shutdown, will expire without a replacement. 

The unexpected hitch in progress toward passing the bill came about after immigration agents killed a second person in Minneapolis and Senate Democrats demanded reforms be included in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill. Trump has agreed to two weeks of negotiations on the DHS bill, which includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration enforcement agencies.

Senators from North Carolina, South Carolina tangle

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a floor speech that he would hold up quick consideration of the funding package until leaders agree to schedule floor votes on two separate proposals. 

The first would establish some sort of criminal penalty for local or state officials who do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agents, often called sanctuary cities. The second would clear the way for conservative organizations to file lawsuits against former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. 

“What is the right answer when a state or a mayor says, ‘I don’t like this federal law, I’m not going to do it because there’s good politics for me.’ I think you risk going to jail,” Graham said. “We cannot live in a country this way, where you get to pick and choose the laws you don’t like.”

A spokesperson for Graham later confirmed to States Newsroom that the senator didn’t want the votes Friday but “just sometime down the road.”

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis spoke directly after Graham and rebuked him for holding up the entire funding package. 

Tillis called on senators from both political parties to start negotiations about “commonsense sorts of ways to lower the temperature” on immigration enforcement.

He said officials should “hold people accountable when they’re harming ICE agents, and hold ICE agents accountable if they reacted in a way that’s not consistent with their law enforcement training.”

Tillis argued that Graham’s approach to pushing for amendment votes that are unlikely to succeed won’t have any tangible, real-world impacts. 

“One senator has a lot of power. And if you use it judiciously, you can be productive and make a difference,” Tillis said. “But if you use it in the heat of the moment, you can make a point that not a damn person is going to remember a month later.”

Some departments, judiciary affected

Since Congress had already passed half of the dozen annual appropriations bills, this shutdown will only affect part of the government, and possibly with moderate impacts since it may only last a few days. 

The Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, Transportation and Treasury will all experience the funding lapse. The Executive Office of the President, Supreme Court and judicial branch would also be affected. 

All other federal programs will continue uninterrupted, including those at the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Interior, Justice and Veterans Affairs, as well as military construction projects and funding for Congress. 

A spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts wrote in a statement earlier this week that “operations would continue using court fees and other available balances through Wednesday, February 4. 

“The following day, on February 5, the Judiciary would begin operating under the terms of the Anti-Deficiency Act. Federal courts would continue operating, but would be limited to activities needed to support the exercise of the Judiciary’s constitutional functions and to address emergency circumstances.”

House Democrats demand changes in DHS bill

A spokesperson for the White House budget office said the departments and agencies affected by the funding lapse can use their contingency plans from the last shutdown unless they had “big changes.”

Those documents detail how many employees continue working without pay during a shutdown and how many are furloughed. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats wouldn’t support the spending bill unless major reforms are made in the way immigration officers conduct enforcement.

“We’re going to have to evaluate what the real opportunity is to get dramatic changes at the Department of Homeland Security. It has to be bold,” he said during a morning press conference. “The Senate has to do its thing before we have anything to evaluate.”