WASHINGTON — Most of the federal government could shut down at the end of the week. But that likely wouldn’t halt aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis and other parts of the country.
Democrats are up in arms after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse and U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis over the weekend. That came after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident and citizen, in her car earlier this month.
Under enormous pressure from the base, Senate Democrats have vowed to block a sweeping government funding bill unless significant restrictions are imposed on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations.
With Republicans plowing ahead with a vote on the House-passed $1.2 trillion funding package later this week, a partial shutdown beginning Saturday now seems increasingly likely. Money is set to run out for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, and many other critical agencies late Friday night.
Yet, even if Democrats shut down the government, ICE operations aren't likely to be hindered in any meaningful way. Under DHS' shutdown plan, a GOP leadership source said, ICE employees would be considered "excepted" workers and required to continue showing up to work, though they, like other workers, would not get paid.
On top of that, even in a shutdown, ICE would continue to have ample funding since the agency received $75 billion of additional money for detention and enforcement from President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" last year, the GOP source noted.
The source also argued that if DHS is funded through yet another stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution or "CR," it would have more flexibility to move money around within the agency to support ICE operations than it would under the massive funding bill at issue.
Even though she voted against the DHS funding bill in the House, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, which wrote the funding bill, made many of those same arguments upon unveiling the bipartisan legislation last week.
"ICE received $75 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In the event of a lapse in funding, ICE would be able to sustain regular operations for multiple years, while the other agencies under this bill would likely be forced to furlough workers and reduce operations," DeLauro's office explained.
"A continuing resolution would extend funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations at their current level, instead of reducing it by $115 million, and would exclude new guardrails contained in this full-year funding measure," her office said.
While DeLauro noted the negotiated funding deal did not include broad reforms to ICE, it would keep ICE funding flat for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs until Oct. 1. It also would reduce the number of ICE detention beds by 5,500 and include $20 million for body cameras for ICE agents. (DHS is reviewing footage from multiple body-worn cameras in Pretti's killing, sources told NBC News on Monday.)
Congress has already passed, and Trump has signed into law, six out of the 12 full-year appropriations bills, meaning that some agencies are funded through Sept. 30. That includes funding for the departments of Justice, Commerce, Agriculture, Interior and Veterans Affairs, as well as the legislative branch. The Smithsonian museums and national parks would remain open since they get their funding through Interior appropriations. SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, also would not be affected by a shutdown.
But the other six appropriations bills not yet passed by Congress account for $1.2 trillion in federal spending, or nearly 80% of the total amount Congress plans to appropriate for the 2026 fiscal year. The majority of that funding is for the Defense Department ($831 billion).
Because the House packaged those six remaining funding bills together and sent them to the Senate, a shutdown would affect many important agencies.
In addition to the Pentagon and DHS, they include the departments of State, Treasury, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.
Shutting down DHS — one of the most sprawling agencies in the government — would mean that Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard employees would not be paid, even as they'd be required to work.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Monday that Democrats are willing to pass the five other appropriations bills if they are separated from the DHS funding bill. But Republicans see no incentive to go that route, believing Democrats will be blamed for voting down a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that was already agreed to by Democratic negotiators.
If the government funding lapses at the end of the week, it would mark the second federal shutdown in four months during Trump's second term in office. Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill last fall, demanding that the GOP include an extension to expiring Obamacare tax credits.
That shut the government down for 43 days — the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
Eight Democrats ultimately caved, voting with Republicans to reopen the government without a deal on the health care subsidies. Polling showed Republicans shouldering more blame for the shutdown than Democrats.
