The U.S. government experienced a partial shutdown early Saturday, even though the Senate approved a funding agreement just hours prior.
The Senate — with a tally of 71-29 — endorsed a set of five bills along with a two-week stopgap to give lawmakers additional time to resolve disputes regarding funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
However, the House of Representatives also needs to vote on the final version of the agreement, and it is not set to reconvene in Washington until Monday. Consequently, the federal government entered what is expected to be a brief shutdown, following the unprecedented 43-day shutdown from the previous year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., indicated on a House GOP conference call earlier Friday that he would support the Senate-approved funding deal given President Donald Trump‘s endorsement, MS NOW reported.
Johnson expressed hope that the House would pass the legislation on Monday, according to MS NOW. Once the House approves it, the spending package will be forwarded to Trump for his signature.
Congressional appropriations expired on Saturday for bills funding the Departments of State, Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and associated agencies and programs.
U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, in a memo dispatched Friday, informed federal agency leaders that their personnel “should report to work for their next scheduled tour of duty to carry out orderly shutdown procedures.”
“The Administration will keep collaborating with Congress to tackle recently raised issues to finalize appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026,” Vought noted.
“We are hopeful that this interruption will be brief,” he added.
The Senate agreement removed funding for the Department of Homeland Security and incorporated five other bills to allocate resources for government agencies.
The deal stipulated that DHS, which has faced intense criticism from Democrats regarding its vigorous immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota, would be temporarily funded through a stopgap measure, with the long-term funding debate to be revisited later.
This agreement faced delays in the Senate as several Republican holdouts prevented lawmakers from hastily considering the package.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, earlier Friday declined to lift his hold on the measure unless he received “assurance of a vote” on his proposal to criminalize so-called sanctuary city policies.
Graham aimed to enforce criminal consequences for state and local officials “who deliberately obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
He also sought an amendment to deal with the so-called Arctic Frost investigation led by then-special counsel Jack Smith. This amendment would require officials to notify senators if their phone records are sought in a criminal investigation.
The House last week added language to the spending bill to repeal a statute that would allow senators to sue for up to $500,000 if their phone records were accessed during Arctic Frost. Graham criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for this action.
Trump, in a Truth Social message on Thursday, urged lawmakers to endorse the agreement that would finance most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Senate leaders had intended to hold a vote on the deal Thursday night, but Graham’s hold disrupted those plans.
