The DHS shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history at 53 days, with no end in sight
The Department of Homeland Security has been unfunded since February 14, affecting TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and CISA. A Senate stopgap reopened most of the department but left ICE and CBP in limbo. The House returns April 14.
The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has reached 53 days -- the longest government shutdown in American history, surpassing the 43-day full federal shutdown in early 2025.
DHS funding lapsed on February 14 after Congress failed to pass a fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill for the department. The dispute centers on a single question: whether to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection at their requested levels without conditions, or attach oversight reforms demanded by Democrats.
Everything else at DHS -- TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency -- has been caught in the crossfire.
What happened
The Senate passed a stopgap bill in late March that funded most of DHS but stripped out ICE and CBP appropriations, forcing separate negotiations on immigration enforcement budgets. Senator Susan Collins, chair of the Appropriations Committee, said Republicans had spent five weeks offering concessions -- body-worn cameras for ICE agents, limits on enforcement in schools and hospitals, detention oversight, visible officer identification -- but called Democratic demands "intransigent and unreasonable."
The bill has not received a House vote. House Republican leadership did not recall members from spring recess. They return April 14.
Impact
The shutdown's most visible effect was at airports. TSA agents, working without pay, called out sick in large numbers during March, producing security lines that stretched for hours during spring break travel. DHS itself issued a press release on March 17 calling it "spring break under siege."
Beyond TSA:
- FEMA: At least 4,000 employees furloughed or working without pay. About 10,000 continued operating on non-lapsing Disaster Relief Fund money -- during an active hurricane and wildfire season.
- Coast Guard: Operations continued but personnel went unpaid.
- CISA: The agency responsible for federal cybersecurity coordination operated on a skeleton crew -- during an ongoing Iranian cyber campaign against U.S. infrastructure that Wire reported on in March.
Trump's executive action
On April 3, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing DHS to pay all employees using existing funding flexibility. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the payments would cover the past six weeks of missed paychecks but warned that future payroll for non-law-enforcement staff depends entirely on Congress.