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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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President Donald Trump has warned lawmakers that a partial government shutdown would be "damaging" and could "slow our Country down," as Congress continues last-minute negotiations to avoid the scenario.
Senate Democrats and Republicans are working on six combined bills, passed by the House last week, to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the treasury, defense department, the health department, federal courts until September 30.
"The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown," Trump wrote on Thursday evening. Without a deal, the partial shutdown could begin midnight Friday into Saturday.
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Democrats have bristled at funding the DHS without reforms to its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democrat of New York, seeking to remove the DHS funding bill from the others.
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But on Thursday the Senate reached a deal to fund DHS for two weeks while they continue debating Democratic demands for reforming the agency, CBS News reported.
After news of the deal emerged, President Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: "Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before)."
The House would have to approve stripping DHS funding from the spending package, but is on recess until February 2.
Why It Matters
No funding deal risks shutting down several large agencies, potentially grounding federal services to a halt and leaving workers furloughed or asked to work unpaid.
A wider shutdown, as experienced last autumn, is not on the cards thanks to existing legislation securing dozens of agencies' funding through September 30, the end of the 2026 fiscal year.
Seperating the DHS' package from the others' means Democrats will get a chance—under the demanding eyes of their voters, following deadly shootings in Minneapolis—to push for reforms to ICE.
What To Know
The $1.2 trillion spending package, which includes about $64.4 billion for DHS and $10 billion for ICE, was passed by the House last week in a 220-207 vote, before the shooting of U.S. citizen Alex Pretti.
Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was shot dead by federal agents in Minnesota on January 24, during an immigration enforcement operation. His killing was the second fatal shooting by a federal immigration officer in the city this month, following the January 7 death of Good, who was shot by an ICE agent on January 7.
The killings led to growing opposition to ICE and calls for reform.
Schumer has outlined proposals to overhaul ICE, including making a requirement for federal agents to coordinate immigration arrests with local law enforcement, ending so-called roving patrols in cities, wearing visible identification, keeping body cameras activated and following a code of conduct that allows for accountability when rules are violated.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: "America is setting Records in every way, and our Growth Numbers are among the best ever. The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown. I am working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government, without delay. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before). Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan “YES” Vote. PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican told reporters Thursday night: "We may inevitably be in a short shutdown situation. But the House is going to do its job."
What Happens Next
The Senate will reconvene at 11 a.m. E.T on Friday. House Representatives are schedued to return to D.C. on February 2.
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