The U.S. government is on the brink of a partial shutdown beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday in large part because of a second recent killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis. It would be different than last year’s shutdown.
The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, has galvanized fierce Senate Democratic opposition to a House-passed measure providing funding for the Department of Homeland Security and a slew of other agencies. The more-than-$1.2 trillion package cleared the House of Representatives last week and accounts for the bulk of government spending for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
Democratic support will be required to pass the bill, which needs 60 votes to avert the filibuster in the Senate that Republicans control 53-47. Democrats are demanding the DHS portion be stripped in exchange for their votes, something Republicans have signaled they will not do.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s recent retreat from its immigration actions in Minnesota would not be enough to drop the shutdown threat — raising the shutdown odds even higher.
“The fix should come from Congress; the public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
“In the meantime, I will vote no on any legislation that funds ICE until it is reined in and overhauled, and Senate Democrats are overwhelmingly united on this issue,” Schumer said. “If [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune insists on holding a vote on DHS legislation that he knows will not pass, then he will guarantee yet another unnecessary government shutdown this Friday.”
Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday on the Senate floor that Pretti’s death was a “tragedy” and warrants a “full and impartial investigation.” He also said talks are underway to break a Democratic logjam of the appropriations bill.
“Productive talks are ongoing, and I urge my Democrat colleagues to continue their engagement and find a path forward that will avoid a needless shutdown,” Thune said.
If the Senate alters the bill at all, it would have to be reapproved by the House, which is out on a prescheduled recess and has not announced plans to return before the deadline.
In addition to DHS, the bill would fund the departments of Defense, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education.
Should the bill not pass by the Friday night deadline, those agencies would be deprived of funding and enter a shutdown posture — meaning “nonessential” employees would be furloughed and “essential” employees would work without pay. Spending bills that President Donald Trump already signed would keep the rest of the government open.
“Activities that are necessary to protect life and property continue, although the workers in those functions may not be paid while they are working,” said Caleb Quakenbush, associate director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Agencies have a lot of discretion in terms of who is essential and at what period.”
Agencies typically release contingency plans before a shutdown. So far, the agencies at risk of losing funding have not publicly released their plans.
Certain government functions like Social Security payments and Medicare and Medicaid services typically continue during a shutdown, Quakenbush said. The bill that reopened the government last year included funding for the Department of Agriculture through the fiscal year, meaning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not see a disruption as it did last year.
There are still a number of services that could see disruptions. A shutdown at the end of the week would be the first during tax season, which began Monday.
The Internal Revenue Service is among the agencies that would lose funding during a shutdown. Last year, the agency remained open in some capacity during the shutdown but did have to wind down some operations as the shutdown dragged on.
The IRS said in October that most tax refunds would not be issued during the last shutdown, with an exception for Form 1040s that are “electronically filed, error-free tax returns that can be automatically processed and direct deposited.”
IRS walk-in taxpayer assistance centers were also shuttered during the last shutdown.
The Treasury Department did not respond to emails from CNBC seeking comment on the agency’s contingency plans.
The Department of Transportation would also be shuttered, though some key functions would remain functioning. Air traffic controllers would be required to work without pay.
The Department of Health and Human Services would also be affected. Some Head Start programs were forced to close during the last shutdown, depriving families of critical child care.
DHS, however, would be able to largely operate without interruption due to funding provided to the agency through the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” law enacted last year. That bill provided DHS with roughly $178 billion, which could be tapped to continue immigration operations during a shutdown.
It’s unclear whether the other agencies affected have identified similar pots of money that could be used to keep operations going. The length of a potential shutdown would also be critical in assessing how long those contingency funds would last.
“The longer they go on, the more disruption that people experience,” Quakenbush said.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
