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Less than three months after a record-breaking 43-day shutdown, the government is once again facing a funding lapse. However, the partial shutdown that started Saturday has key differences from the fall shutdown, and leaders are optimistic it will be resolved quickly.

In the final hours before the deadline on Friday, the Senate voted to fund most of the government through the end of the fiscal year and give Homeland Security a two-week funding extension to give time to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids.

The five-bill funding package passed the Senate in a 71-29 vote, but it must now pass the House again before becoming law. The House returned today and Speaker Mike Johnson plans to hold a vote as soon as possible. The $1.2 trillion package could face additional challenges from both sides of the aisle. Many House Republicans have already said they will oppose any Senate changes to what the House already passed, while many House Democrats are opposed to stopgap funding for DHS without immediate new restrictions. If the deal gets signed into law, Congress will have approved over 95% of federal funding, leaving only the full-year DHS bill left to debate.

Congress has already funded a number of services which otherwise would have a significant public impact during shutdowns, including SNAP and WIC programs, national parks, departments of Energy, Commerce, Justice, Agriculture, Interior and Veteran’s Affairs, the EPA, congressional operations, the FDA, and federal science programs.

The funding lapse affects the Pentagon and agencies including the Transportation Department and DHS, labor, housing, education and health programs, the IRS, State Department, and Treasury Department.

Negotiations continue to intensify between the White House and Senate Democrats as they attempt to reach a last-minute agreement over how to advance the remaining appropriations bills.

During a 45-55 test vote this morning, Democrats voted to block the package, as they continue to push for an agreement to separate Homeland Security from the rest of the legislation, allowing them to approve the five other bills which would fund the majority of the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. A handful of Republicans also opposed the package, citing various spending objections.

The list of demands from Senate Democrats include ending roving patrols, requiring body cameras, preventing agents from wearing masks, and requiring them to work more closely with local law enforcement.

A partial government shutdown beginning at midnight on Friday is now almost certain.

The likelihood of a partial government shutdown has increased, as Senate Democrats face pressure to block Department of Homeland Security funding following the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this month. Congress has until January 30 to pass a spending resolution, to avoid shutting down large portions of the government.  

On January 22, the House sent the $1.2 trillion appropriations package to the Senate, which included roughly $10 billion for ICE (full details are in the previous blog post). The DHS funding bill received a separate vote in the House, narrowly passing by a vote of 220-207. Only seven Democrats voted in favor, as public pressure mounts to rein in ICE following large-scale protests in Minnesota.  

The package seemed poised to pass the Senate with at least 60 votes, but following the shooting of Alex Pretti on January 24, Senate Democrats have vowed they will not fund DHS without new guardrails.  

Weather-related disruptions from the winter storm have complicated matters; the Senate vote scheduled for January 26 has been rescheduled until at least January 27. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer hopes to separate the DHS bill from the rest of the measures, which have overwhelming bipartisan support. However, even if Senate Democrats can convince Republicans to separate it, the legislation would need approval again in the House, which is on recess until February 2. All this points towards a likely shutdown beginning Friday. 

Unlike the last government shutdown, many government operations would remain operational. Congress has already passed six out of the 12 full-year appropriations bills, which have been signed into law by President Trump. This includes funding for the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and the Legislative Branch.  

More details to come. 

On Friday, Senator Patty Murray visited the UW’s eScience Institute to speak with students about how they are harnessing AI in their research. Senator Murray recently secured $10 million in federal funding for the UW to expand its secure computing and data infrastructure for AI research. This funding, part of the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, will support Tillicum, the UW’s next-generation computing platform which launched in October.

“If you don’t have the computers, if you don’t have the basic infrastructure, you’re stymied,” Murray said in an interview with GeekWire. “So this benefits everybody — whether it’s creating jobs, whether it’s creating better healthcare, whether it’s creating more innovators who come here to Washington state to be able to create jobs for the future and make a better way of life for all of us.”

Read more about the visit here.

Photo Credit: Kate Rich