The Department of Homeland Security is on the verge of closing after a political standoff in Congress over immigration enforcement.
The situation has the potential to affect many Americans — including travelers, boaters, storm victims and tens of thousands of DHS employees — indefinitely. Amid weak and slow-moving negotiations between Democrats and the White House, it is unclear how long the shutdown, which involves only a small but important part of the federal government, will last.
Crucially, DHS also involves the Transportation Security Administration, the department of the federal government most responsible for airport security. During last year’s record-breaking shutdown, many TSA workers slept in their cars, received eviction notices, lost child care and sold their blood and plasma as their paychecks were delayed.
Although they were expected to continue working, TSA worker absenteeism increased, causing flight disruptions. Air travel delays and cancellations were also caused by air traffic control issues, which won’t happen this time as the closure does not affect the Transportation Department.
Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers on Feb. 11 that the approximately 61,000 workers at more than 430 commercial airports who will be hit by another funding crisis cannot go through it all again.
“Some are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown,” she said. “We can’t give them an experience like that again. It would be unconscionable.”
Despite that plea, Congress left town a day later without reaching an agreement on funding for the DHS, which has come under widespread scrutiny since federal agents killed two Minnesotans in separate incidents last month. Appropriations for the agency were set to expire after Friday, February 13.
Since 37-year-old Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents, Democrats have rallied around demands to reform DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP. They are pushing for a ban on masks and stricter standards on the use of force, as well as requirements for body cameras and court orders for immigration raids. Republicans have indicated that some of these questions are non-starters, especially the ban on wearing masks, which they say could lead to officers being stunned.
The shutdown will force DHS to scale back operations and defer wages for many workers. The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, warned that the crisis will “severely disrupt” its ability to reimburse states for disaster response costs.
However, many DHS law enforcement activities, including immigration enforcement, will continue. Lawmakers have noted in recent days that ICE, which typically remains on the job during shutdowns, already has a surplus of funding it can draw on under President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
Because the partial shutdown will only apply to DHS, other services and programs affected last year during the longest shutdown on record will be safe from the political back-and-forth. Food stamps, air traffic controllers, and the military (except the Coast Guard, which falls under DHS) will not be affected.
But just like the 2025 shutdown, the longer it drags on, the worse the pain for Americans. Many lawmakers planned to spend the next week outside Washington, while some would travel to Germany for a security conference. Congress has not scheduled another vote until February 23.
Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A DHS shutdown is coming. Why travelers should brace for impact.
Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
#DHS #shutdown #coming #travelers #brace #impact