The U.S. government partially shut down early Saturday, although the Senate passed a funding deal hours earlier.
The Senate — by a vote of 71 to 29 — approved a package of five bills, plus a two-week stopgap measure that gives lawmakers more time to resolve disputes over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
But the House of Representatives must also vote to approve the final version of the deal, and it is not expected to return to Washington until Monday. So the federal government has entered what will likely be a short shutdown, following last year’s record 43-day shutdown.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a House GOP conference call earlier Friday afternoon that he would support the funding deal passed by the Senate in light of the president’s decision. Donald Trumphis support, MS NOW reported.
Johnson said he hoped the House would pass the bill on Monday, according to MS NOW. Once approved by the House, the spending package will be sent to Trump for signature.
Appropriations approved by Congress expired 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 related agencies and programs.
Russell Vought, director of the US Office of Management and Budget, in a memo sent Fridaytold heads of federal agencies that their employees “should report to work for their next regularly scheduled duty period to undertake orderly closure activities.”
“The Administration will continue to work with Congress to address recently raised concerns in order to finalize appropriations for FY 2026,” Vought wrote.
“We hope that this delay will be short,” he added.
The Senate deal defunded the Department of Homeland Security and included five other bills aimed at directing funds to government agencies.
The agreement called for DHS, which has been the target of scathing criticism from Democrats for its aggressive immigration enforcement measures in Minnesota, to be temporarily funded through a stopgap measure, with the question of long-term funding to be revisited at a later date.
The deal stalled in the Senate as a few Republican holdouts blocked lawmakers from quickly reviewing the package.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham refused Friday to lift his suspension of the measure unless he was “guaranteed a vote” on his bill to criminalize so-called sanctuary city policies.
Graham wanted to impose criminal sanctions on state and local officials “who deliberately interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
He also wanted an amendment to address the so-called Arctic Frost investigation led by then-special counsel Jack Smith. That amendment would have required officials to notify senators if their phone records are obtained as part of a criminal investigation.
Last week, the House included language in the spending package to repeal a law that would have allowed senators to sue for up to $500,000 if their phone records were obtained during the Arctic Frost. Graham criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for the decision.
Trump, in an article in Truth Social on Thursday, encouraged lawmakers to support the deal that would fund most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Senate leaders had planned a vote on the deal Thursday night, but Graham’s party scuttled that effort.
