The so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” allocated approximately $75 billion to the DHS department over several years.
Congress questions immigration officials about enforcement tactics
Immigration officials are facing questions in Congress over enforcement efforts and the shooting deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis.
WASHINGTON – In an effort to force the White House to reform the Department of Homeland Security, Democrats are risking yet another partial government shutdown.
But Republicans are quick to point out the irony of that strategy. Regardless of whether DHS funding expires after Friday, February 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will continue to operate.
The divisions in the government agency most responsible for Democratic outrage, sparked in large part by the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis last month, have been strengthened by billions of dollars in Congress’ passage of the so-called “Big and Beautiful Act” in 2025.
Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, told lawmakers on February 12 that the upcoming shutdown would impact human resources activities such as pay withholding and ICE’s civilian workforce. But he acknowledged that ICE would not be significantly affected by the closure. Even during last year’s record funding crisis, more than 90% of ICE employees within DHS continued to work.
“Even if we shut down the agency because of ICE and CBP enforcement activity in Minneapolis, immigration and deportation operations would continue,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said during a Congressional hearing.
In the meantime, “the good work the department is doing outside of immigration enforcement will come to a screeching halt,” he said. The services and salaries of employees of the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, and Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other components of DHS, could be disrupted.
However, most of the federal government will remain fully functional. Lawmakers already passed annual funding packages for most government agencies last fall and earlier this month.
DHS did not provide USA TODAY with an updated contingency plan for the impending government shutdown, but said services deemed essential will continue, as they always do during a government shutdown.
On Thursday, February 12, senators blocked consideration of the funding bill before leaving Washington for their scheduled recess. Barring any last-minute changes since the partial shutdown began over the weekend, many lawmakers had planned to continue traveling abroad to attend a security conference in Munich, Germany, over the holidays.
Senators are not expected to vote again until Monday, February 23, the day before President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address to both chambers of Congress.
Zachary Schermele is a Congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
