The federal government in the US seems to be headed towards a partial government shutdown this week, with Republicans and Democrats at odds over funding the Department of Homeland Security following the fatal shooting of another US citizen by federal immigration officials in Minnesota.
Time is running out for Congress to pass a sprawling appropriations package before the current funding for much of the Trump administration expires at 12:01 AM ET on Saturday, Jan. 31, the Wall Street Journal reported.
What To Know?
The Senate is required to pass the remaining six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that keep the US government open through September. The remaining six have already been signed into law by Trump.
Overall, the package covers around $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending. This includes funds for the Pentagon, along with the departments of Health and Human Services and Labor. Also, it covers $64.4 billion for DHS.
The DHS funding further includes $18.3 billion for Customs and Border Protection as well as $10 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, besides funding for the Coast Guard, airport security and others.
If the federal government funding lapses at the end of the week, this would mark the second federal shutdown in nearly four months during President Trump’s second tenure. The other one lasted for 43 days, making it the longest shutdown in the US history.
What Went Wrong?
The Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but are required to have 60 votes to advance the bill due to rules.
The Senate Democrats have said that they will not provide the votes required to pass the $64.4 billion DHS bill and asked the Republicans to remove the legislation from a larger package, Reuters reported.
They have vowed to block funding for the bill till the time significant restrictions are imposed on immigration enforcement operations.
This happened after a US Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend. Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse and a citizen of the US. Before this, an ICE official had shot and killed Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident and US citizen, in her car.
The Democrats are demanding that the DHS funding bill be split from the broader package so that Congress can pass the remaining five spending measures and rewrite provisions for homeland security.
As per the Wall Street Journal, they are demanding constraints on immigration enforcement and increased oversight of DHS operations.
Who Gets Affected?
Parts of the US government would remain fully functional as the Congress has already enacted funding for six of the 12 annual appropriations bills. Among these include departments like Justice, Commerce, Agriculture and others.
However, agencies without funding, such as DHS and the Pentagon, could enter a shutdown if the current funding expires after midnight on Friday.
This indicates that nonessential government functions could be halted and several federal workers might be furloughed. Those deemed essential would be required to work without pay. Usually, federal workers get paid back once funding is restored. Critical services, including border security, law enforcement and air-traffic control, are expected to remain operational during a shutdown.
For now, the Internal Revenue Service has not come out with an updated plan regarding how it plans to manage the shutdown during the tax-filing season.
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