The Department of Homeland Security is almost certain to start a partial shutdown early Saturday morning after the White House and congressional Democrats couldn’t bridge their differences Thursday on a deal to curb federal immigration enforcement, following two widely publicized shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The deadlock became more pronounced when the Senate failed to advance legislation funding DHS and then planned to leave Washington for a weeklong recess, essentially using up the remaining time before the deadline. The funding lapse would close just one cabinet department, making this one of the narrowest shutdowns in modern history—driven by a single stalled appropriations bill rather than a broader collapse of federal funding, since Congress has already passed the other 11 appropriations bills. The closest historical comparison dates back over 40 years, to 1980, when the Federal Trade Commission briefly became the first federal agency to shut down after its appropriations ran out.

The shutdown stems from an unresolved dispute over immigration enforcement, as Democrats and the White House couldn’t agree on whether Congress should impose new restrictions on federal agents in the aftermath of backlash against President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis—including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good. Democrats have insisted that any DHS funding bill include requirements for judicial warrants before agents enter homes, clear identification and badge numbers for agents, limits on mask use, expanded body camera deployment, updated use-of-force standards, and explicit bans on racial profiling. Trump has indicated openness to some changes, but Democrats rejected the White House’s latest proposal this week as insufficient.

On Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted 52–47 against moving forward with a yearlong DHS funding bill that lacked the enforcement reforms Democrats are pushing for. Only one Democrat—Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman—voted in favor. A Thursday attempt to pass a short-term stopgap measure via unanimous consent, which would have temporarily funded DHS and given lawmakers more negotiation time, also failed. With no path forward, Senate leaders announced plans to send senators home.

“At the moment, we’re not close,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters after the failed votes. He added that lawmakers would be called back if negotiations suddenly made progress. “That deal space is there,” Thune said. “This can be done.”

Still, Thune expressed doubt about Democrats’ willingness to compromise. “The negotiations will continue and we will see in the next few days how serious they are,” he said. 

Any deal reached would also need to pass the House, which is also set to recess. 

The standoff has continued even after the Trump Administration tried to ease tensions by announcing a reduction in immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Tom Homan, the White House’s border czar, said Thursday that federal authorities would the surge of agents sent to the city—a step Republicans cited as proof the Administration was addressing Democratic concerns.

Democrats, however, dismissed the announcement as superficial and reversible, arguing that only legislation could put lasting safeguards on federal agents. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told TIME that Democrats aren’t looking to dismantle immigration enforcement but to hold it to the “same rules that apply to every other law enforcement officer at the local, state and federal level.”

When funding expires at midnight Friday, the will be uneven. Immigration enforcement itself—the heart of the political dispute—would mostly continue without interruption. ICE and Customs and Border Protection would keep operating, supported by $75 billion in funding approved last year in Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” that’s still available.

Instead, the worst of the shutdown would hit other parts of DHS, . Approximately 95% of TSA’s workforce—about 61,000 employees, including most airport screeners—would be required to work without pay at more than 430 commercial airports nationwide. While they wouldn’t miss a full paycheck right away, they will start to if the shutdown lasts more than two weeks, potentially affecting airport staffing as workers struggle to cover basic expenses.

“A lack of funding and predictable resources will create major challenges for our ability to provide the level of transportation security excellence Americans expect,” Ha Nguyen McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, warned lawmakers during a House hearing Wednesday.

During the last partial government shutdown, which lasted 43 days in late 2025, McNeill said unscheduled absences for TSA employees rose and some airports saw higher delay rates as the weeks went on. She told lawmakers that some employees reported sleeping in their cars to save gas, selling blood and plasma, and taking second jobs to get by.

Other DHS agencies—including the Coast Guard, cybersecurity operations and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster response—would also be impacted, though many essential activities would continue under shutdown contingency plans. Overall, more than 90% of DHS’ roughly 272,000 employees would keep working during a partial shutdown, according to the agency’s .