WASHINGTON, February 16, 2026: Another federal shutdown began on Saturday after Congress failed to vote on funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday. The latest shutdown is over controversy involving how Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting immigration raids across the country. After the death of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, the Democrats made three demands in late January before voting on a pending federal funding bill.
Congress voted to fund all the pending federal offices and agreed to extend two weeks of funding for DHS while the Democrats and Republicans agree on ICE reforms to fully fund DHS.
The three Democrat demands are the removal of face masks by ICE agents while conducting immigration enforcement operations, the use of judicial warrants to detain anyone, and a code of conduct for ICE agents, like what police forces use across the nation.
The Republicans have generally agreed to having ICE agents wear body cameras but most oppose having them remove their masks over fears of online harassment against the agents.
After Congress failed to reach an agreement on Friday, Congress recessed until next week suggesting that the shutdown is likely to last through the week.
Although the Democrat demands center around ICE reform, both the Border Patrol and ICE remain funded because of the 2025 funding bill adopted by Congress to fund most of the federal government. The bill included millions for ICE, which the Trump administration can divert for ICE salaries.
However, federal employees at other DHS departments like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have been working since Saturday without pay. TSA has over 60,000 employees. Another group of federal employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are also working without pay this morning. And around 8,000 Secret Service employees are also working without pay today. An additional 56,000 members of the Coast Guard and employees of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are also waking up this morning to another day without pay.
Congress is in recess until next Monday and there are no indications that they will revisit the ICE reforms demanded by the Democrats before then, ensuring that the latest federal shutdown lasts through at least this week. Meanwhile, the flashpoint for the shutdown – ICE – remains funded because of the previous congressional funding approval last year.
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