2026 United States federal government shutdown

2026 United States federal government shutdown

Website of the United States Department of State during the shutdown
Date	January 31, 2026 – present (2026-01-31 – present) (3 days)
Cause	End of certain appropriations from the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026

At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time on January 31, 2026, about half of the departments of the federal government of the United States shut down as Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year after a previous continuing resolution expired.

By late January 2026, Congress had passed six of the twelve required full-year appropriations bills. Congress reached an agreement to pass the rest of the bills as part of a single package that successfully passed the House on January 22, 2026. However, the agreement collapsed following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on January 24, 2026. Democrats announced they would no longer support Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, which funds CBP.

After a week of negotations, on January 29, 2026, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement to separate the DHS funding bill, and pass a package containing the other five bills plus a two-week continuing resolution for DHS. The agreement passed the Senate in a 71–29 vote on January 30, 2026.

Afterwards, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced that the House would not vote on the revised agreement until Monday, February 2, 2026. As a result, the Office of Management and Budget said they would begin shutdown procedures at midnight on Saturday, January 31, when funding ran out.

Background

2026 federal budget

On September 30, 2025, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders held discussions that failed to avert a shutdown.

Article One of the United States Constitution vests the U.S. Congress with the authority to appropriate funds drawn from the Treasury. ^{[1] : 1} Political polarization has affected this process, often forcing lawmakers to pass continuing resolutions to temporarily fund the government. ^[2] The failure of Congress to agree on funding legislation leads to a government shutdown when the previous funding term ends. ^{[1] : 28-29} In a government shutdown, federal agencies continue work categorized as "essential", but federal employees and contractors are furloughed and not immediately paid. ^[3]

The 2025 federal government shutdown began after government funding expired on October 1, 2025. ^[4] On November 9, 2025, after negotiations between Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans, a deal was revealed to end the shutdown. The agreement would include a continuing resolution that would fund the government until the end of January, and full-year appropriations bills for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, military construction, and the Legislative Branch.

A package was enacted in mid-January 2026 including the appropriations bills for Interior and Environment; Commerce, Justice, and science (including NASA and the National Science Foundation); and Energy and water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of the Interior. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Killing of Alex Pretti and Homeland Security funding

In addition of the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, military construction, and legislative branch funding that passed to end the 2025 government shutdown, funding for Interior and Environment; Commerce, Justice, and science (including NASA and the National Science Foundation); and Energy and water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of the Interior was passed in January 2026. ^[8]

Later in January, the House and Senate reached agreements to pass the final three appropriations bills needed to avoid a partial government shutdown. These three bills passed the House on January 22, 2026. ^{[9] [10]}

However, following the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on January 24, 2026, Democrats in the Senate announced they would no longer support the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill, which funds CBP. ^[11]

On January 29, 2026, the Senate failed to advance the government funding package in a 45–55 vote. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the bill. Most of the Republicans voting against the bill were fiscal conservatives, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rick Scott and Ashley Moody of Florida. Unlike the Democrats, these Republicans are seeking more funding cuts and are generally opposed to a new deal between Republicans and Democrats for Homeland Security funding. ^[12]

Later that day, a deal was announced in the Senate to separate the DHS funding bill, and pass a package containing the other five bills plus a two-week continuing resolution for DHS. Passage was briefly delayed by a hold placed by Senator Lindsey Graham, who opposed repeal of a provision allowing senators to sue over phone records collected during the Arctic Frost investigation, and the lack of full-year DHS appropriations. Graham removed the hold in return for votes on legislation to criminalize refusal of state and local officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and to expand eligibility of those investigated by Jack Smith to sue the Department of Justice. ^{[13] [14]} On January 30, the bill passed the Senate 71–29. ^[15]

Partial government shutdown

After passing the Senate, Speaker of House Mike Johnson said the House would not take up the bill until Monday, February 2, 2026. As a result, Office of Management and Budget said they would begin shutdown procedures at midnight on Saturday, January 31, when funding ran out. ^[16]

Agencies affected by the shutdown include the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense (except functions listed below), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, and Homeland Security, as well as the Executive Office of the President, several independent agencies, and the Judicial Branch. ^[17]

Agencies not affected are the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, Justice, and Energy; some functions of Defense (water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and military construction); some independent agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and National Science Foundation; and the Legislative Branch. ^[18]

House actions

Mike Johnson announced that Republicans would look to pass the bill through a suspension of the rules. In a regular rule vote, which is generally a party line vote, a small number of fiscally conservative Republicans upset at the deal could stop the bill's passage by voting down the procedural rule vote. Under suspension of the rules, a two-thirds majority is needed to pass bills, requiring a large number of Democrats to also vote for the agreement along with Republicans. Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not yet endorsed the agreement. Democrat Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced his opposition to the package. Republican Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a fiscal conservative, threatened to oppose the bill if it was not coupled with legislation to require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. ^{[19] [20]}

References

1. Saturno, James V. (2023). Introduction to the Federal Budget Process (Report). Congressional Research Service. R46240. Archived from the original on March 17, 2025.
2. Gamio, Lazaro (September 30, 2025). "From Crisis to Crisis: How Congress Struggles to Fund the Government". The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 30, 2025. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
3. Gold, Michael (March 14, 2025). "The Democratic Divide: Would a Shutdown Have Helped or Hurt Trump?". The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 25, 2025. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
4. Bogage, Jacob; Beggin, Riley (September 23, 2025). "A shutdown would give Trump more power over federal spending". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2025.
5. "Committee Releases Conferenced CJS, E&W, and Interior Bills" (Press release). United States House Committee on Appropriations. January 5, 2026. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
6. "Committee Releases Conferenced CJS, E&W, and Interior Bills" (Press release). United States House Committee on Appropriations. January 5, 2026. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
7. "Committee Releases Conferenced CJS, E&W, and Interior Bills" (Press release). United States House Committee on Appropriations. January 5, 2026. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
8. "Advancing American Strength: President Trump Signs H.R. 6938 Into Law | House Committee on Appropriations - Republicans". appropriations.house.gov. January 23, 2026. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
9. Hubbard, Kaia; Yilek, Caitlin (January 22, 2026). "House approves final funding bills, sending package to Senate as government shutdown deadline nears". CBS News. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
10. Weaver, Al (January 25, 2026). "Second fatal Minneapolis shooting puts Congress on verge of shutdown". The Hill. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
11. Lerner, Kira; Gambino, Lauren (January 25, 2026). "Schumer: Democrats will block funding package if it includes homeland security money". The Guardian. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
12. Tully-McManus, Katherine; Carney, Jordain; Scholtes, Jennifer (January 29, 2026). "Senators block funding package amid DHS standoff". Politico. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
13. Weaver, Al (January 29, 2026). "Senate shutdown deal stalls over Graham objection". The Hill. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
14. Bolton, Alexander (January 30, 2026). "Senate set to pass government funding bill Friday after Graham pledges to lift hold". The Hill. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
15. Carney, Jordain; Tully-McManus, Katherine (January 30, 2026). "Senate passes $1.2T government funding deal — but a brief shutdown is certain". POLITICO. Retrieved January 31, 2026.
16. Heckman, Jory (January 30, 2026). "Agencies prepare for partial shutdown, as lawmakers look to minimize its impact". Federal News Network. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
17. H.R. 7148
18. H.R. 5371 and H.R. 6938
19. Lee Hill, Meredith; Wu, Nicholas (January 30, 2026). "House GOP leaders eye bipartisan path for spending package". Politico. Retrieved January 30, 2026.
20. Brooks, Emily; Kochi, Sudiksha (January 30, 2026). "Johnson backs fast-track process requiring Democratic support to swiftly end shutdown". The Hill. Retrieved January 30, 2026.