WASHINGTON, January 28, 2026: Only a few months after the longest federal shutdown ended in November, another one looms in the horizon. In November, Congress adopted a partial funding measure funding six of the 12 funding bills necessary to fund the government so that government workers could get back to work. Six spending bills are pending the Senate’s vote.
The Democrats led the federal shutdown last year to avoid health care benefits under the Affordable Healthcare Act lapsing. The shutdown ended after seven Democrats crossed party lines to end it without restoring the healthcare benefits the Democrats demanded.
In December, the House passed legislation to continue the healthcare benefits that expired at the end of the year, but the Senate did not take up the legislation.
Without the subsidies, healthcare has become too expensive for some Americans. According to the Centers for Medical & Medicaid Services (CMS) data, around 24.2 million Americans signed up for healthcare coverage in 2025.
This year, 22.7 million have signed up, 1.5 million less than last year.
The House passed funding for the remaining six spending bills last week with the help from seven House Democrats, including Henry Cuellar, who is running for reelection.
There are six federal departments that will lose funding starting on Sunday if the Senate does not vote by Friday. The Department of Defense is waiting for $834 billion in funding. Another $221 billion for Education, Health and Human Services and Labor must also be voted on. Housing, Transportation and Urban Development are also waiting for $102 billion, as are the departments of Commerce, Justice and Science who are waiting on about $76 billion in funding. Another $109 billion is earmarked for Energy, Environment, Interior and Water.
However, it is the $64 billion earmark for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that may lead to a partial government shutdown.
On January 7, Renee Nicole Good was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. On January 24, Alex Pretti was also killed in Minneapolis by ICE agents.
It is the Pretti shooting that has jeopardized the funding for DHS which oversees the ICE immigration operations across the nation after Senate Democrats resolved to vote against the funding bill pending at the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is demanding that the DHS funding be removed from the funding bill so that the other five funding bills can be adopted.
But removing funding for DHS must also be approved by the House which is not in session.
Senate Republicans need 60 votes to pass the funding bill but only have 53 Republicans forcing them to rely on seven Democrats to cross party lines.
Congress must now act by Saturday to fund several agencies to avoid a partial shutdown on Sunday.
However, the White House signed bills on Friday funding many of the agencies through September, leaving funding for DHS and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in limbo.
Cover photo credit: Renee Nicole Good, Facebook, Old Dominion University English Department (left.) Alex Pretti, Department of Veterans Affairs handout (right).
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