Congress is running out of time to prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as bipartisan negotiations continue to stall.
A funding package approved earlier this week provided DHS with a two-week stopgap, extending 2025 funding levels through Feb. 13. Lawmakers now face a narrow window to finalize a full-year 2026 funding bill, pass another temporary extension to allow more negotiations, or risk a shutdown affecting a broad range of DHS agencies.
Democrats are pushing for significant changes to how immigration enforcement is carried out under the Trump administration, presenting Republicans with a list of reform demands and making clear they won’t back another short-term funding extension for DHS without them. Republicans, however, have dismissed most of those proposals as “non-starters.”
The calls for reform have intensified after two U.S. citizens — Alex Pretti and Renée Good — were fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during enforcement operations, drawing national attention and sparking protests.
So far, talks have made little headway, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed skepticism about avoiding a funding lapse as the February 13 deadline approaches.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) expressed skepticism that a deal could be reached in the coming week.
“We’ve got essentially a little over a week to get this done, which is entirely unrealistic,” Thune said, accusing Democrats in both chambers of being more focused on creating a political issue than finding a solution.
A shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security would extend beyond immigration enforcement, disrupting operations at several key agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Secret Service.