shutdown

SPRING Break travelers are set to be hit by disruption amid the partial government shutdown.

Major airlines and travel groups have urged Congress to sort out funding for thousands of Transportation and Security Administration workers.

It comes as millions of high school and college students are preparing to travel nationwide for Spring break.

The annual one-to-two-week academic vacation period is kicking off soon.

But, holidaymakers and flyers will be hit by annoying flight delays and longer wait times at security due to the partial US homeland security shutdown, according to travel groups and airlines.

And, TSA staff are likely to suffer financially, reported Simple Flying on Saturday.

“Not again: 50,000 TSA officers face unpaid work as shutdown threatens Spring Break travel,” its headline warned.

“As yet another government shutdown looms, so does one of the busiest travel times of the Year — spring break,” said U.S. Travel, Airlines for America, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association in a joint statement last Friday.

“Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay.”

They warned that the funding delays raise “the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights.”

The partial government shutdown began on Saturday over money for the Department of Homeland Security.

Congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s team failed to reach a deal on legislation to fund the department through September.

And their inability to reach a compromise has sparked huge concern within the travel and hospitality industry – particularly with Spring break looming, plus the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The United States, along with Canada and Mexico, will be hosting the biennial football competition from June 11 through July 20.

Airlines for America also warned that funding uncertainty is “creating lasting damage to the entire travel ecosystem.”

The organization said the damaging interruption would hit “airlines, hotels and thousands of small businesses the travel industry supports.”

Tips on getting through TSA security faster during the 2026 partial shutdown

Funding for the DHS expired at midnight last Friday

The 95% of TSA workers deemed essential personnel will be required to keep working – but without pay.

To minimize delays at the airport:

• Arrive at the airport with ample time to pass through airport security – about 1–2 hours before your flight
• Ensuring you are dressed without excess layers or metal devices
• Slip-on shoes also make the screening at TSA much quicker

Source: Simple Flying

“With America’s 250th anniversary and the 2026 World Cup this summer, the nation should be focused on showcasing the country on the world stage and maximizing the multi-billion-dollar economic opportunity these events bring,” the statement added.

“A lapse in TSA funding will significantly undermine those efforts.

“Last year’s shutdown alone resulted in an economic impact of $6 billion —nearly $140 million per day — and disrupted travel for more than 6 million travelers.”

FATAL SHOOTINGS

It comes days after Delta Air Lines’ boss told international visitors ahead of the World Cup that the U.S. remains a welcoming destination despite the controversial crackdown on immigration.

“Hopefully, the World Cup will bring a lot of Europeans, a lot of international visitors into the US market,” said Ed Bastian last Thursday.

“Yes, the US has a focus on immigration. This is not immigration. This is tourism,” Bastian added.

“And as long as people are coming with the proper credentials, they’re not having any issues.”

Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis last month.

Congress is on recess until February 23.

OFF SICK

The longer the shutdown continues, the more likely flyers will be hit with delays as they will have to queue in longer lines at airports if workers call in sick.

Ha Nguyen McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, explained last Wednesday that TSA remained “laser-focused on returning the U.S. back to being the top global travel destination.”

Spring break 2026 – in numbers

• Spring breakers are primarily high school and college students
• 2 million college students travel for the holiday nationwide
• Florida enjoys a $2.7 billion economic windfall from Spring break
• Cancun’s Spring break tourism brings in $300 million yearly
• More than 500,000 students flock to South Beach Miami
• 1.5 million visitors attend Spring break in Panama City Beach
• Only around 30% of bookings are made within 30 days of travel
• The most popular domestic beach destinations this year are: Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Diego

Sources: Travel Awaits and Gitnux

However, this can’t happen “in a timely manner if Congress does not fund DHS through the end of Fiscal Year 2026.”

“With the United States hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup in June of this year, TSA does not have the luxury of time to prepare for the influx of passengers and international travelers,” McNeill warned.

“A lack of funding and predictability will pose significant challenges on our ability to deliver transportation security for the American public with the level of excellence we expect, and the American taxpayer deserves.”

It follows a record 43-day shutdown last fall.

TSA agents fall under the DHS.

A shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that took effect early Saturday affects the agency responsible for screening passengers and bags at airports across the country. Travelers with airline reservations may be nervously recalling a 43-day government shutdown that led to historic flight cancellations and long delays last year.

Transportation Security Administration officers are expected to work without pay while lawmakers remain without an agreement on Homeland Security’s annual funding. TSA officers also worked through the record shutdown that ended Nov. 12, but aviation experts say this one may play out differently.

Trade groups for the U.S. travel industry and major airlines nonetheless warned that the longer Homeland Security appropriations are lapsed, the longer security lines at the nation’s commercial airports could get.

Here’s what to know about the latest shutdown and how to plan ahead.

What’s different about this shutdown?

Funding for Homeland Security expired at midnight Friday. But the rest of the federal government is funded through Sept. 30. That means air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration will receive paychecks as usual, reducing the risk of widespread flight cancellations.

According to the department’s contingency plan, about 95% of TSA workers are deemed essential personnel and required to keep working. Democrats in the House and Senate say the Department of Homeland Security won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations.

During past shutdowns, disruptions to air travel tended to build over time, not overnight. About a month into last year’s shutdown, for example, TSA temporarily closed two checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport. That same day, the government took the extraordinary step of ordering all commercial airlines to reduce their domestic flight schedules.

John Rose, chief risk officer for global travel management company Altour, said strains could surface at airports more quickly this time because the TSA workforce also will be remembering the last shutdown.

“It’s still fresh in their minds and potentially their pocketbooks,” Rose said.

What is the impact on travelers?

It’s hard to predict whether, when or where security screening snags might pop up. Even a handful of unscheduled TSA absences could quickly lead to longer wait times at smaller airports, for example, if there’s just a single security checkpoint.

That’s why travelers should plan to arrive early and allow extra time to get through security.

“I tell people to do this even in good times,” Rose said.

Experts say flight delays also are a possibility even though air traffic controllers are not affected by the Homeland Security Department shutdown.

Airlines might decide to delay departures in some cases to wait for passengers to clear screening, said Rich Davis, senior security advisor at risk mitigation company International SOS. Shortages of TSA officers also could slow the screening of checked luggage behind the scenes.

What travelers can do to prepare

Most airports display security line wait times on their websites, but travelers shouldn’t wait until the day of a flight to check them, Rose advised.

“You may look online and it says 2½ hours,” he said. “Now it’s 2½ hours before your flight and you haven’t left for the airport yet.”

Passengers should also pay close attention while packing since prohibited items are likely to prolong the screening process. For carry-on bags, avoid bringing full-size shampoo or other liquids, large gels or aerosols and items like pocketknives.

TSA has a full list on its website of what is and isn’t allowed in carry-on and checked luggage.

At the airport, Rose said, remember to “practice patience and empathy.”

“Not only are they not getting paid,” he said of TSA agents, “they’re probably working with reduced staff and dealing with angry travelers.”

Will the shutdown drag on?

The White House has been negotiating with Democratic lawmakers, but the two sides failed to reach a deal by the end of the week before senators and House members were set to leave Washington for a 10-day break.

Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice, however, to return if a deal to end the shutdown is struck.

Democrats have said they won’t vote to approve more Homeland Security funding until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.

In a joint statement, U.S. Travel, Airlines for America and the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. warned that the shutdown threatens to disrupt air travel as the busy spring break travel season approaches.

“Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights,” the statement said.

Yamat writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — A dispute over whether federal immigration agents should be allowed to wear masks during enforcement operations has become one of the biggest obstacles to keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded, pushing the government toward a partial shutdown early Saturday.

Democrats have described the practice as corrosive to public trust, arguing that masked agents create the appearance of a “secret police” force. Republican lawmakers, President Trump and his top advisors, meanwhile, have drawn a hard line against requiring officers to remove their face coverings, insisting that doing so would expose them to harassment, threats and online doxxing.

“They want our law enforcement to be totally vulnerable and put them in a lot of danger,” Trump said at a White House event Thursday. He added that it would be “very, very hard to approve” Democrats’ demands, such as unmasking federal officers.

The standoff over masking stalled negotiations as lawmakers raced to meet a funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security at midnight Friday. Without a deal, key agency functions — from airport security to disaster relief coordination — could be affected if the shutdown drags on.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) rides the Senate subway Thursday ahead of the latest partial government shutdown.

(Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

As with every shutdown, the agency’s essential functions will continue to operate, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant Homeland Security secretary for public affairs, said in a statement. But employees performing those functions at agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration could go without pay if the shutdown stretches for weeks.

The heads of those agencies told the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday that the shutdown is expected to create severe and lasting challenges.

Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the acting vice commandant of the Coast Guard, said a shutdown would delay maintenance for boats and aircraft, and halt pay for 56,000 active-duty reserve and civilian personnel. Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator of TSA, recounted how the last government shutdown affected her workers and spiked wait times at airports.

“We heard reports of officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save money on gas, selling their blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” she said, adding that some are still recovering from the financial impact.

Operations within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — the agencies that are central to the budget impasse — are likely to be the least affected. That’s because both agencies still have access to $75 billion in funding approved last year as part of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

By midday Friday, it remained unclear when the partial shutdown would end, as lawmakers left Washington for a security conference in Munich and progress between Democratic and White House negotiators remained nebulous.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters on Friday when asked about cutting a deal. “We always have to protect our law enforcement.”

The partial government shutdown comes at a moment of acute public anger at the agency’s approach to immigration enforcement, which has included the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.

Since the shootings, the Trump administration has tried to quell tensions. Border policy advisor Tom Homan said Thursday that the administration was ending its immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier this month that the agency would be acquiring and issuing body cameras to federal agents. Trump also said he wants to employ a “softer touch” to immigration enforcement after the killings of Good and Pretti.

But Democrats maintain that they need reforms written into law. Among their demands is requiring officers to wear and turn on body cameras, banning them from wearing masks, and ending the practice of “roving patrols” and instead requiring that they carry out only targeted operations.

“We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that permits masked secret police to barge into people’s homes without warrants, no guardrails and zero oversight from independent authorities,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.

Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE, told a Senate panel Thursday that he does not want to see federal agents masked either, but said he is hesitant to bar face coverings because the threats to agents are too severe.

“I would work with this committee and any committee to work with holding individuals accountable that doxx ICE agents, because ICE agents don’t want to be masked,” Lyons said. “They’re honorable men and women, but the threats against their family are real.”

Federal immigration officials are more supportive of body cameras.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott told a House committee on Tuesday that he supports expanding the use of body cameras, but said more funding is needed to hire personnel to oversee the rollout.

“Fund the entire program so that we can be transparent and that we can make sure America knows what we’re doing, because that trust is critically important,” he said.

Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn., said that while the White House has made some “tweaks around oversight,” its actions continue to fall short.

The association, which represents 18,000 immigration attorneys, has urged Congress to refuse more funding for ICE and CBP before implementing reforms.

“The American public wants and deserves real, meaningful guardrails that are written into law that ensure this administration — and, quite frankly, any administration — will abide by the Constitution and respect fundamental principles of due process,” Johnson said Wednesday on a call with reporters.

“Congress has a critical opportunity right now to meet that demand,” he added.

Republican Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky talk during a hearing Thursday on oversight of federal immigration agencies.

(Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

So far, Democrats maintain they will continue to bock funding bills without accountability measures in place.

California’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, were among the Senate Democrats who helped block passage of funding bills Thursday that would have averted a shutdown because they lacked accountability measures.

“I will not support more funding for ICE until there are new guardrails to rein in its lawless conduct,” Schiff wrote on X. “I’m a no on anything but real reform.”

Padilla said he would be a “firm no” until lawmakers agree that federal immigration officers need to be held accountable.

“Donald Trump and Republicans want Americans to forget about their lawless immigration roundup, but we won’t,” Padilla said.

Feb. 12 (UPI) — The Department of Homeland Security likely will shut down early Saturday after Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill Thursday.

The Senate voted 52-47 to approve House Resolution 7147, which would have funded the department through Sept. 30. The House narrowly approved the measure Wednesday.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Senate Democrat to vote in favor of the funding measure, which failed to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule.

Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota voted against the measure to keep open a procedural mechanism that would enable the Senate to quickly revisit the measure in a floor vote.

During floor debate, Thune said the House and Senate three weeks ago reached a bipartisan agreement that would fund Homeland Security for the remainder of the 2026 fiscal year that started Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30.

That agreement included requiring federal immigration enforcement officers to wear body cams and cease enforcement sweeps in favor of more targeted operations.

“It included funding for de-escalation training for ICE, and it included additional oversight for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol spending,” Thune said.

“And then Democrats reneged on the agreement,” he added. “And so, we are here.”

After defeating the funding measure, Senate Democrats in a statement “demanded Republicans get serious and work with Democrats to pass common sense reforms and rein in ICE and end the violence” that has occurred in Minneapolis.

“They need to sit down. They need to negotiate in good faith, produce legislation that actually reins in ICE and stops the violence,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday.

After the measure failed Thursday, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., proposed extending the current short-term extension of the agency’s 2025 funding that expires at the end of the day Friday.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., opposed that effort, which effectively ended it.

The Department of Homeland Security shutdown would affect the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Science and Technology Directorate, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes visa applications.

It also would affect the Coast Guard, Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE and the CBP would not shut down, though, as both were funded for three years via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 and will continue enforcing federal immigration laws.

Feb. 10 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said Tuesday that the 2016 suspension of the Kaesong Industrial Complex was a “self-inflicted act” that damaged inter-Korean trust and expressed “deep regret” toward North Korea, while stopping short of citing Pyongyang’s provocations that led to the shutdown.

The statement was released to mark the 10th anniversary of the closure of the joint industrial park, once seen as a symbol of economic cooperation between the two Koreas.

The ministry said South and North Korea signed an agreement in August 2013 guaranteeing normal operations at Kaesong regardless of political or security conditions, adding that the deal had been reached at South Korea’s strong request. The remark was widely interpreted as criticism of the administration of former President Park Geun-hye, which ordered the complex’s full suspension in 2016.

The ministry also expressed regret that the complex was not restarted during the administration of former President Moon Jae-in.

It said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated in January 2019 that he was willing to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex “without any preconditions or compensation,” but South Korea failed to take follow-up measures, missing what it described as a critical opportunity.

The ministry said it hopes for an early normalization of the complex and announced plans to restore the Kaesong Industrial Complex Support Foundation, which was dissolved in 2024, as part of preparatory steps. It also pledged to work with relevant government agencies to support South Korean companies that have suffered financial and psychological hardship due to the prolonged shutdown.

Kaesong has faced repeated suspensions since its launch. Operations were halted in 2013 after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test and withdrew its workers, but later resumed after the two sides agreed on measures to prevent recurrence. In 2016, following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and a long-range ballistic missile launch, the Park administration ordered a full shutdown, citing concerns that wages paid to North Korean workers were being diverted to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.

A Unification Ministry official told reporters that the latest statement was not intended to deny North Korea’s provocations but to emphasize the government’s position on reopening the complex.

“North Korea carried out nuclear tests, but our decision to completely shut down the complex ended up harming South Korean companies and closing a key channel of inter-Korean communication,” the official said. “This message expresses regret to the North for undermining trust in inter-Korean relations.”

The ministry confirmed that North Korea is currently operating about 40 factories inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex without authorization but did not comment further on the issue.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260210010003634

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to carry out President Trump’s “play call” for funding the government will be put to the test on Tuesday as the House votes on a bill to end the partial shutdown.

Johnson will need near-unanimous support from his Republican conference to proceed to a final vote, but he and other GOP leaders sounded confident during a Tuesday morning press conference that they will succeed. Johnson can afford to lose only one Republican on party line votes with perfect attendance, but some lawmakers had threatened to tank the effort if their priorities are not included. Trump weighed in with a social media post, telling them, “There can be NO CHANGES at this time.”

“We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential changes for the agency that enforces the nation’s immigration laws — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“The Republicans are going to do the responsible thing,” Johnson said.

Running Trump’s ‘play call’

The House had previously approved a final package of spending bills for this fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but the Senate broke up that package so that more negotiations could take place for the Homeland Security funding bill. Democrats are demanding changes in response to events in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were shot and killed by federal agents.

Johnson said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” it was Trump’s “play call to do it this way. He had already conceded he wants to turn down the volume, so to speak.” But GOP leaders sounded as if they still had work to do in convincing the rank-and-file to join them as House lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday after a week back in their congressional districts.

“We always work till the midnight hour to get the votes,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “You never start the process with everybody on board. You work through it, and you could say that about every major bill we’ve passed.”

The funding package passed the Senate on Friday. Trump says he’ll sign it immediately if it passes the House. Some Democrats are expected to vote for the final bill but not for the initial procedural measure setting the terms for the House debate, making it the tougher test for Johnson and the White House.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has made clear that Democrats wouldn’t help Republicans out of their procedural jam, even though Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer helped negotiate the funding bill.

Jeffries, of New York, noted that the procedural vote covers a variety of issues that most Democrats oppose, including resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

“If they have some massive mandate,” Jeffries said of Republicans, “then go pass your rule, which includes toxic bills that we don’t support.”

Key differences from the last shutdown

The path to the current partial shutdown differs from the fall impasse, which affected more agencies and lasted a record 43 days.

Then, the debate was over extending temporary coronavirus pandemic-era subsidies for those who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were unsuccessful in getting those subsidies included as part of a package to end the shutdown.

Congress has made important progress since then, passing six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal agencies and programs. That includes important programs such as nutrition assistance and fully operating national parks and historic sites. They are funded through Sept. 30.

But the remaining unpassed bills represent roughly three-quarters of federal spending, including the Defense Department. Service members and federal workers could miss paychecks depending upon the length of the current funding lapse.

Voting bill becomes last-minute obstacle

Some House Republicans have demanded that the funding package include legislation requiring voters to show proof of citizenship before they are eligible to participate in elections. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had said the legislation, known as the SAVE Act, must be included in the appropriations package.

But Luna appeared to drop her objections late Monday, writing on social media that she had spoken with Trump about a “pathway forward” for the voting bill in the Senate that would keep the government open. Luna and Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., met with Trump at the White House.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank focused on democracy and voting rights issues, said the voting bill’s passage would mean that Americans would need to produce a passport or birth certificate to register to vote and that at least 21 million voters lack ready access to those papers.

“If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown,” said Schumer, of New York. “Let’s be clear, the SAVE Act is not about securing our elections. It is about suppressing voters.”

Johnson, of Louisiana, has operated with a thin majority throughout his tenure as speaker. But with Saturday’s special election in Texas, the Republican majority stands at a threadbare 218-214, shrinking the GOP’s ability to withstand defections.

Freking writes for the Associated Press. AP video journalist Nathan Ellgren and writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s economic outlook appears increasingly grim more than three weeks after the start of what became one of the most comprehensive and prolonged state-imposed internet blackouts in history, impacting a population of more than 90 million people.

Iranian authorities abruptly cut off all communications across the country on the night of January 8, at the height of nationwide protests that the United Nations and international human rights organisations say were suppressed with the use of deadly force.

Most of Iran’s internet bandwidth, local and international phone calls and SMS text messages have been restored over recent days. But most of the country is still unable to freely connect to the global internet amid heavy filtering by the state.

The increased bandwidth allows more people to circumvent state restrictions using a variety of proxies and virtual private networks (VPNs), but solutions are often costly and temporary.

Last week, Information and Communications Technology Minister Sattar Hashemi told reporters his ministry estimates that the Iranian economy suffered at least 50 trillion rials (about $33m at the current exchange rate) in damages on a daily basis during the blackout.

But the minister admitted that the true toll is likely much higher, and said that other ministers and economic officials have privately offered heftier estimates that he did not expand upon.

‘Can’t do anything without the internet’

The government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has said the decision to fully block connectivity was taken outside of its control by the Supreme National Security Council.

Pezeshkian, who had made scaling back internet filtering a main campaign promise, has refrained from talking about Iran’s largest internet blackout to date, instead focusing on economic reforms and cash subsidies.

The administration has promised to offer online businesses financial support, but the losses have already been sudden, acute, and too heavy to bear for many.

Simin Siami, a travel agent working in Tehran, told Al Jazeera that her company lost most of its income and had to lay off a number of employees.

“Most international flights were cancelled, and there was no way to purchase tickets or compare existing flights,” she said, adding that her company was also unable to book hotels for customers, who were initially even unable to renew their passports.

“Unfortunately, that limited our services to selling tickets for local flights and booking local hotels, and cancelled all our previous international tickets and bookings.”

Saeed Mirzaei, who works at an immigration agency in the capital, said 46 employees at his company had to go on mandatory leave for weeks amid the shutdown.

He told Al Jazeera that they suddenly lost all contact with foreign counterparts, were unable to get updated information from embassies, and missed deadlines to apply for universities on behalf of their customers wishing to leave a heavily sanctioned Iran for better opportunities.

“We can’t do anything without the internet because our work deals directly with it,” Mirzaei said.

National internet a ‘bitter joke’

During the blackout, Iran’s theocratic establishment even struggled to sustain basic services using the so-called National Information Network, a limited nationalised intranet.

The connection to the intranet was slow and patchy, many companies remained disconnected from it, and those that were allowed to connect retained only a fraction of their customer base amid general economic stagnation across the country.

Hashemi, the communications minister, said a demand by hardliners within the establishment to move away from using the international web in favour of a domestic connection was a “bitter joke” that is not feasible to enforce.

He said his ministry estimates that the country’s online businesses could survive under a blackout for roughly 20 days, signalling that the state had no choice this week but to gradually restore internet bandwidth.

Figures for economic damages incurred by the blackout published by officials reflect only the visible costs and do not account for hidden losses, according to Abazar Barari, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce.

“In the import and export sector, processes are heavily dependent on the internet from the very initial stages – such as price negotiations, issuance of pro forma and other invoices – to coordination with transportation companies and the verification of documents. As a result, the internet shutdown effectively disrupted foreign trade,” he told Al Jazeera.

“During this period, customer attrition also occurred, with the damage being particularly severe in certain food commodities, as many countries are unwilling to tie their food security to unstable supply conditions.”

‘They have no right to do this’

In a tumultuous country with one of the highest inflation rates in the world, numerous Iranians who tried to make money online to stay afloat are now deeply anxious as well.

From owners of small online businesses to teachers, chefs, crypto traders, gamers and streamers, people are taking to social media to ask others for extra support after the gradual reconnect this week.

Mehrnaz, a young video editor in Tehran, said she only went back to work this week after her company put her on forced leave without pay from the start of the protests in the city’s business district in late December.

“I was on the verge of having to move back to my parents’ house in another city. I’m only 25, and I hit near-zero for the second time this year. There might not be another time,” she said, pointing out that the first time was during the 12-day war with Israel and the United States in June.

Iran’s National Post Company announced on Sunday that postal deliveries experienced a 60-percent fall at the height of the blackout, mainly damaging small and home-based businesses that depended on mailing their products.

But beyond livelihoods, many in Iran are also angered by the fact that the state can cut off communications on command, violating the people’s right to benefit from the internet.

“They had the nerve to create a tiered internet and decide which type of use is ‘essential’,” said a woman who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.

“My child wants to search about his favourite animation movies, my mom wants to read news on Telegram, and my dad wants to download books. I want to go online and write that they have no right to do this.”

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that it will be a few days before a government funding package comes up for a vote, all but ensuring the partial federal shutdown will drag into the week as Democrats and Republicans debate reining in the Trump administration’s divisive immigration enforcement operations.

Johnson signaled he is relying on help from President Trump to ensure passage. Trump struck a deal with Democratic senators to separate out funding for the Department of Homeland Security from a broader package after public outrage over two shooting deaths during protests in Minneapolis against the immigration crackdown there. The measure approved Friday by the Senate would fund Homeland Security for two weeks, setting up a deadline for Congress to debate and vote on new restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

“The president is leading this,” Johnson (R-La.) said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“It’s his play call to do it this way,” the speaker said, adding that the Republican president has “already conceded that he wants to turn down the volume” on federal immigration operations.

Johnson faces a daunting challenge ahead, trying to muscle the funding legislation through the House while Democrats are refusing to provide the votes for speedy passage. They are demanding restraints on ICE that go beyond $20 million for body cameras that already is in the bill. They want to require that federal immigration agents unmask and identify themselves and are pressing for an end to roving patrols, amid other changes.

Democrats dig in on ICE changes

“What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Jeffries said the administration needs to begin negotiations now, not over the next two weeks, on changes to immigration enforcement operations.

“Masks should come off,” he said. “Judicial warrants should absolutely be required consistent with the Constitution, in our view, before DHS agents or ICE agents are breaking into the homes of the American people or ripping people out of their cars.”

It’s all forcing Johnson to rely on his slim House GOP majority — which will narrow further after a Democrat was elected to a vacant House seat in a Texas special election Saturday — in a series of procedural votes, starting in committee Monday and pushing a potential House floor vote on the package until at least Tuesday, he said.

House Democrats planned a private caucus call Sunday evening to assess the next steps.

Partial government shutdown drags on

Meanwhile, a number of other federal agencies are snared in the funding standoff as the government went into a partial shutdown over the weekend.

Defense, health, transportation and housing are among those that were given shutdown guidance by the administration, though many operations are deemed essential and services are not necessarily interrupted. Workers could go without pay if the impasse drags on. Some could be furloughed.

This is the second time in a matter of months that federal operations have been disrupted as Congress digs in, using the annual funding process as leverage to extract policy changes. In the fall, Democrats sparked what became the longest federal shutdown in history, 43 days, as they protested the expiration of health insurance tax breaks.

That shutdown ended with a promise to vote on proposals to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. But the legislation did not advance and Democrats were unable to achieve their goal of keeping the subsidies in place. As a result, insurance premiums have soared in the new year for millions of people.

Trump wants quick end to shutdown

This time, the administration has signaled its interest in more quickly resolving the shutdown.

Johnson said he was in the Oval Office last week when Trump, along with border advisor Tom Homan, spoke with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York to work out the deal.

“I think we’re on the path to get agreement,” Johnson said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Body cameras for immigration agents, which are already provided for in the package, and an end to the roving patrols are areas of potential agreement, Johnson said.

But he said taking the masks off and putting names on agents’ uniforms could lead to problems for law enforcement officers as they are being targeted by the protesters and their personal information posted online.

“I don’t think the president would approve it — and he shouldn’t,” Johnson said on Fox.

Democrats, however, said the immigration operations are out of control, and it is an emergency situation that must end in Minneapolis and other cities.

Growing numbers of lawmakers are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired or impeached.

“What is happening in Minnesota right now is a dystopia,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who led efforts to hold the line for more changes.

“ICE is making this country less safe, not more safe today,” Murphy said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Our focus over the next two weeks has to be reining in a lawless and immoral immigration agency.”

Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — President Trump moved quickly this week to negotiate with Democrats to avert a lengthy government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding, a sharp departure from last year’s record standoff, when he refused to budge for weeks.

Some Republicans are frustrated with the deal, raising the possibility of a prolonged shutdown fight when the House returns Monday to vote on the funding package. But Trump’s sway over the GOP remains considerable, and he has made his position clear at a moment of mounting political strain.

“The only thing that can slow our country down is another long and damaging government shutdown,” Trump wrote on social media late Thursday.

The urgency marked a clear shift from Trump’s posture during the 43-day shutdown late last year, when he publicly antagonized Democratic leaders and his team mocked them on social media. This time, with anger rising over shootings in Minneapolis and the GOP’s midterm messaging on tax cuts drowned out by controversy, Trump acted quickly to make a deal with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

“Trump and the Republicans know that this is an issue where they’re on the wrong side of the American people and it really matters,” Schumer told reporters Friday after Senate passage of the government funding deal.

Crisis after Minneapolis killings

Senators returned to work this week dealing with the fallout from the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers, as well as the killing of Renee Good in the city weeks earlier.

Republicans were far from unified in their response. A few called for the firing of top administration officials such as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy. Most GOP senators tried to strike a balance, calling for a thorough investigation into Pretti’s killing while backing the hard-line immigration approach that is central to Trump’s presidency.

But many agreed that the shootings threatened public support for Trump’s immigration agenda.

“I’ve never seen a political party take its best issue and turn it into its worst issue in the period of time that it has happened in the last few weeks,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. “Some things have to change.”

Democrats quickly coalesced around their key demands.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said there “was unanimity” around core principles of enforcing a code of conduct for immigration officers and agents, ending “roving patrols” for immigration enforcement actions and coordinating with local law enforcement on immigration arrests.

It helped that Trump himself was looking for ways to de-escalate in Minneapolis.

“The world has seen the videos of those horrible abuses by DHS and rogue operations catching up innocent people, and there’s a revulsion about it,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said.

“The White House is asking for a ladder off the ledge,” he added.

The painful politics of shutdown

Republicans are also trying to promote their accomplishments in office as they ready for the November midterms and the difficult task of retaining control of both chambers of Congress.

But the prospect of a prolonged shutdown shifted attention away from their $4.5-trillion tax and spending cuts law, the centerpiece of their agenda. Republicans had hoped the beginning of this year’s tax season on Monday would provide a political boost as voters begin to see larger tax refunds.

Republicans are also mindful of the political damage from last year’s shutdown, when they took a slightly larger portion of the blame from Americans than Democrats, according to polling from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

“The shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans,” Trump told Republican senators at the White House in November.

On a practical level, this funding standoff threatened to destroy months of bipartisan work, including long hours over the holiday break, to craft the 12 spending bills that fund the government and many priorities back home.

“We saw what happened in the last government shutdown in regards to how it hurt real, hardworking Americans,” said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “I don’t want that to happen again.”

A two-week funding battle begins

The agreement reached this week, if passed by the House, would avoid a prolonged shutdown and fund nearly every federal department through the end of the budget year in September. But it would not resolve one of the most difficult issues for Congress and the White House: Homeland Security funding.

Instead of a full-year deal, funding for the department was extended for just two weeks, giving lawmakers little time to bridge the deep divides over immigration enforcement.

Democrats are pressing for changes they say are necessary to prevent future abuses, including requiring immigration agents to wear body cameras, carry clear identification, end roving patrols in cities and coordinate more closely with local law enforcement when making arrests. Many Democrats also want tighter rules around warrants and accountability mechanisms for officers in the field.

Those demands have met stiff resistance from Republicans. Some are opposed to negotiating with Democrats at all.

“Republicans control the White House, Senate and House. Why are we giving an inch to Democrats?” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) wrote on social media.

Republican senators said they would take the fight to Democrats by introducing their own bills, including restrictions on “sanctuary cities,” to show their support for Trump’s policies. That term is generally applied to state and local governments that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“We’ve let the issue get away. We’re not leading. We’re trying to avoid losing rather than winning,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who held up the spending bills until Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) agreed to give him a vote on his sanctuary cities bill at a later date.

Thune acknowledged the difficulty of the next two weeks, saying that there are “some pretty significant views and feelings.”

“We’ll stay hopeful,” Thune told reporters about the upcoming fight. “But there are some pretty significant differences of opinion.”

Cappelletti and Groves write for the Associated Press. AP writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — A budget impasse in Congress is poised to halt large swaths of federal operations early Saturday as lawmakers in Capitol Hill turn to the next flashpoint in negotiations to reopen the government: whether to impose new limits on federal immigration authorities carrying out President Trump’s deportation campaign.

Over the next two weeks, Democrats and Republicans will weigh competing demands on how the Department of Homeland Security should carry out arrests, detention and deportations after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents this month in Minnesota.

Seeking to rein in the federal agency, Senate Democrats late on Thursday were able to strike a deal with the White House that would temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security but fund the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the health, education, labor and transportation agencies through Sept. 30.

The agreement is intended to give lawmakers more time to address Democratic demands to curb ICE tactics while averting a partial government shutdown.

The Senate finalized the deal Friday evening on a 71-29 vote, hours before a midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown. Passage of the deal was delayed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who objected to parts of the package.

The House expected to take up the legislation as early as Monday. The partial government shutdown will occur until the measure clears the House and Trump signs it into law.

The president supports the deal, which came after Senate Democrats said they would not vote to fund Homeland Security unless reforms for the agency were approved. Among the demands: banning federal agents from wearing masks, requiring use of body cameras and requiring use of judicial warrants prior to searching homes and making arrests.

Democrats have also demanded that local and state law enforcement officials be given the ability to conduct independent investigations in cases where federal agents are accused of wrongdoing.

The deal, however, does not include any of those reforms; it includes only the promise of more time to negotiate with no guarantee that the new restrictions will be agreed to.

Both of California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, voted against the Senate deal. They both opposed giving more funding to Homeland Security without reforms in a vote Thursday.

Schiff voted no because he said he promised to not “give another dime for ICE until we saw real reforms — and not just promised reforms but statutory requirements.”

“I want to see those reforms before I am prepared to support any more funding for these agencies,” Schiff said in a video message posted on X, and added that he did not see the White House acting in “good faith. “I want it in writing and statute.”

After voting against the measure, Padilla said in a statement: “I’ve been clear from the beginning: No more money for ICE and CBP without real oversight and accountability.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters Friday morning that Democrats will find out whether two weeks is enough time to reach a compromise.

“We will evaluate whether that is sufficient time,” Jeffries said. “But there is urgency to dealing with this issue because ICE as we have seen is out of control.”

Meanwhile, the absence of reforms in the Senate deal has already drawn concerns from some progressives, who argue the deal falls short of what is needed to rein in federal immigration enforcement.

“First of all, I’m actually disappointed that Senate leadership is not right now demanding more,” Rep. Robert Garcia, a top-ranking House Democrat from Long Beach, told reporters Friday. “This idea that we’re somehow going to continue to fund this agency and somehow just extend the pain, I think is absolutely wrong.”

Garcia said it was “outrageous” that the Senate deal would extend funding for Homeland Security for two weeks without any new requirements.

“This idea that we’re somehow not demanding immediately the removal of masks and body cameras and all the other reforms while eliminating this agency that’s causing harm, I think, is outrageous,” Garcia said.

Democratic Rep. Judy Chu of Pasadena said in a statement that she had not yet decided whether to support the Senate deal once it reaches the House floor.

But, Chu added: “I cannot support legislation that increases funding to this agency while delivering no accountability measures.”

Rep. Kevin Calvert (R-Corona) said in a statement that it is “critical” for lawmakers to pass the bipartisan spending package, in part because it included funding for the U.S. military.

“As Chairman of the [House] Defense Appropriation Subcommittee, I’m especially concerned about the negative impacts of a shutdown at a time when we have a buildup of American military assets in the Middle East,” Calvert said.

Calvert added that Homeland Security operations will continue even in the shutdown because lawmakers provided an influx of funding for the agency in last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But he said he worried that any lapse in funding would affect other operations by the agency, including disaster funding and security assistance for major events, such as the upcoming World Cup.

“We need to get these priorities funded,” he said.

Other Republican lawmakers have already signaled the possible hurdles Democrats will face as they try to rein in ICE.

Graham held up consideration of the Senate deal, in part because he wanted the Senate to vote to criminalize local and state officials in sanctuary cities — a term that has no strict definition but that generally describes local jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“You can convince me that ICE can be better, but I don’t think I will ever convince you to abandon sanctuary cities because you’re wedded to it on the Democratic side,” Graham said.

Graham also delayed passage of the deal because it included a repeal of a law that would have allowed senators — including himself — to sue the government if federal investigators gained access to their phones without notifying them. The law required senators to be notified if that were to happen and sue for up to $50,000 in damages per incident.

“We’ll fix the $500,000 — count me in — but you took the notification out,” Graham said. “I am demanding a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

Other Senate Republicans also expressed concern with Democrats’ demands, even as Trump seemed to try appease them.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said the demand for federal agents to remove their masks during operations was a “clear and obvious attempt to intimidate and put our federal agents in harm’s way.”

“When enforcement becomes dangerous for enforcers, enforcement does not survive,” Schmitt said in a Senate floor speech. “What emerges is not reform, it is amnesty by default.”

Despite the GOP opposition, most Senate Republicans were poised to join Democrats on Friday and vote for the deal. But there is no certainty that they will join the minority party when negotiations resume in the coming weeks.

Recent history suggests that bipartisan support at the outset does not guarantee a lasting deal, particularly when unresolved policy disputes remain. The last government shutdown tied to a debate over healthcare exposed how quickly negotiations can collapse when no agreement is reached.

In November, a small group of Democrats voted with Republicans to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history with the promise of negotiating an extension to healthcare tax credits that were set to expire in the new year.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), a former House speaker, reminded the public on Friday that Democrats were unable to get Republican support for extending the tax credits, resulting in increasing healthcare costs for millions of Americans.

“House Democrats passed a bipartisan fix, yet Senate Republicans continue to block this critical relief for millions of Americans,” Pelosi wrote in a post on X.

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats reached a deal with the White House late Thursday to prevent a partial government shutdown by moving to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, providing more time to negotiate new restrictions for federal immigration agents carrying out President Trump’s deportation campaign.

The deal follows widespread outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens — Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — by federal agents in Minneapolis amid an aggressive immigration crackdown led by the Trump administration.

Under the agreement, funding for the Department of Homeland Security will be extended for two weeks, while the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the health, education, labor and transportation departments, will be funded through Sept. 30, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office confirmed to The Times.

While the Senate could approve the deal as early as Thursday night, it is unclear when the House will vote for the package. To avert a government shutdown, both chambers need to approve the deal by midnight EST Friday.

After the agreement was reached, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was “working hard with Congress to ensure that we are able to fully fund the Government without delay.”

“Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before),” Trump said.

He added: “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”

The move to temporarily fund DHS is meant to give lawmakers more time to negotiate Democratic demands that include a requirement that federal immigration agents use body cameras, stop using masks during operations and a push to tighten rules around arrests and searches without judicial warrants.

The breakthrough comes after Senate Democrats — and seven Senate Republicans — blocked passage of a spending package that included additional funding for DHS through Sept. 30 but not enough guardrails to muster the 60 votes needed to pass the chamber.

“Republicans in Congress cannot allow this violent status quo to continue,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after the vote. “We’re ready to fund 96% of the federal government today, but the DHS bill still needs a lot of work.”

Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) condemned Democrats for jeopardizing funding for other agencies as they pushed for their demands.

“It would be disastrous to shut down FEMA in the middle of a major winter storm. It’s affecting half the country, and it appears that another storm is along the way,” he said. “A shutdown would mean no paychecks for our troops once again, no money for TSA agents or air traffic controllers.”

The standoff comes after federal ICE agents shot and killed Pretti, an American citizen and nurse who attempted to help a fallen woman during an ICE operation in Minneapolis. Pretti’s death was the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in the city in less than two weeks, following the killing of Good earlier this month.

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators are narrowing a list of demands for changes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a partial government shutdown looming by week’s end, hoping to pressure Republicans and the White House as the country reels from the deaths of two people at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has not yet outlined what his caucus will ask for before a crucial Thursday vote on whether to move forward with spending legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security and a swath of other government agencies. Democrats were to meet Wednesday and discuss several possible demands, including forcing agents to have warrants and identify themselves before immigration arrests, and they have pledged to block the spending bill in response to the violence.

“This madness, this terror must stop,” Schumer said, calling for immediate changes to ICE and U.S. Border Patrol.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said he is waiting for Democrats to outline what they want and he suggested that they need to be talking to the White House.

It was unclear how seriously the White House was engaged and whether the two sides could agree on anything that would appease Democrats who are irate after federal agents fatally shot U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti this month.

With no evident negotiations underway, a partial shutdown appeared increasingly likely starting Saturday.

Democrats weigh their demands

As the Republican administration pursues its aggressive immigration enforcement surge nationwide, Democrats have discussed several potential demands in the Homeland Security bill.

Those includes requiring judicial warrants for immigration arrests, mandating that federal agents have to identify themselves, ending arrest quotas, sending agents back to the border and forcing DHS to cooperate with state and local authorities in investigations into any incidents such as the two shooting deaths in Minnesota.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Democrats are looking at changes that will “unite the caucus, and I think unite the country,” including ending the “roving patrols” that Democrats say are terrorizing Americans around the country.

“None of this is revolutionary,” said Murphy, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees Homeland Security spending. “None of this requires a new comprehensive piece of legislation.”

Schumer and Murphy have said any fixes should be passed by Congress, not just promised by the administration.

“The public can’t trust the administration to do the right thing on its own,” Schumer said.

Republicans say any changes to the spending would need to be passed by the House to prevent a shutdown, and that is not likely to happen in time because the House is not in legislative session this week.

“We can have conversations about what additional oversight is required, what additional laws we should consider, but not at the expense of shutting down the government,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Many obstacles to a deal

Despite some conversations among Democrats, Republicans and the White House, it was unclear whether there could be a resolution in time to avoid a partial shutdown.

The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, and that makes it difficult to strip out the Homeland Security portion as Democrats are demanding. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators, which would be complicated, or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline.

It was unclear whether President Trump would weigh in.

Republican leaders had hoped to avoid another shutdown after last fall’s 43-day closure that revolved around Democrats’ insistence on extending federal subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for those enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Even if the Senate could resolve the issue, House Republicans have made clear they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE.

“The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” according to the letter.

Democrats say they won’t back down.

“It is truly a moral moment,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “I think we need to take a stand.”

Jalonick and Freking write for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — The killing of a second U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minneapolis is sharply complicating efforts to avert another government shutdown in Washington as Democrats — and some Republicans — view the episode as a tipping point in the debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Senate Democrats have pledged to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless changes are made to rein in the federal agency’s operations following the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse.

The Democratic defections now threaten to derail passage of a broad spending package that also includes funding for the State Department and the Pentagon, as well as education, health, labor and transportation agencies.

The standoff has also revealed fractures among GOP lawmakers, who have called for a federal and state investigation into the shooting and congressional hearings for federal officials to explain their tactics — demands that have put unusual pressure on the Trump administration.

Senate Republicans must secure 60 votes to advance the spending measure in the chamber — a threshold they cannot reach on their own with their 53 seats. The job is further complicated by a time crunch: Lawmakers have until midnight Friday to reach a compromise or face a partial government shutdown.

Senate Democrats had already expressed reservations about supporting the Department of Homeland Security funding after Renee Good, a mother of three, was shot and killed this month by federal agents in Minneapolis. But Pretti’s killing has led Democrats to be more forceful in their opposition.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday he would oppose funding for the agencies involved in the Minneapolis operations.

“I’m not giving ICE or Border Patrol another dime given how these agencies are operating. Democrats are not going to fund that,” he said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think anyone who votes to give them more money to do this will share in the responsibility and see more Americans die in our cities as a result.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement last week that he would not “give more money to [Customs and Border Protection] and ICE to continue terrorizing our communities and breaking the law.” He reiterated his stance hours after Pretti’s killing.

“I will vote against any additional funding for Trump’s ICE and CBP while they act with such reckless disregard for life, safety and the Constitution,” Padilla wrote in a post on X.

While Senate Republicans largely intend to support the funding measure, some are publicly raising concerns about the Trump administration’s training requirements for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and calling for congressional oversight hearings.

“A comprehensive, independent investigation of the shooting must be conducted in order to rebuild trust and Congressional committees need to hold hearings and do their oversight work,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wrote in a post on X. “ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties.”

Similar demands are being made by House Republicans.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has formally sought testimony from leaders at ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying his “top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”

Homeland Security has not yet provided a public confirmation that it will attend the hearing, though Garbarino told reporters Saturday that he has been “in touch with the department” and anticipates a full investigation.

Many Republican lawmakers expressed concern over federal officials’ saying Pretti’s killing was in part due to him having a loaded firearm on his person at the time of the encounter. Pretti had a permit to carry, according to the Minneapolis police chief, and videos show him holding a cellphone, not brandishing a gun before officers pushed him down to the ground.

“Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement of government,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wrote on X.

Following the pushback from the GOP, President Trump appears to be seeking ways to tone down the tensions. The president said Monday he had a “very good call” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat he has clashed with in recent weeks, and that they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength” on next steps.

If Democrats are successful in striking down the Homeland Security spending package, some hinted at comprehensive immigration reforms to follow.

California Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) detailed the plan in a social media post over the weekend, calling on Congress to repeal the $75 billion in supplemental funding flagged for ICE in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” last year. The allocation roughly tripled the budget for immigration enforcement.

The shooting came as a slate of progressives renewed demands to “abolish ICE” and replace it with an agency that has congressional oversight.

“[Congress must] tear down and replace ICE with an agency that has oversight,” Khanna said. “We owe that to nurse Pretti and the hundreds of thousands on the streets risking their lives to stand up for our freedoms.

Democrats are also focusing on removing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Earlier this month, Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) introduced a measure to impeach Noem, saying she has brought about a “reign of terror to Minneapolis.” At least 120 House Democrats have supported the measure, according to Kelly’s office.

Democrats also urged a stop to controversial “Kavanaugh stops,” which allow agents to detain people based on perceived race, and have set their sites on the reversal of qualified immunity protections, which shield agents from misconduct lawsuits.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) backed the agenda and called for ICE and Border Patrol agents to “leave Minnesota immediately.”

“Voting NO on the DHS funding bill is the bare minimum. Backing Kristi Noem’s impeachment is the bare minimum. Holding law-breaking ICE agents legally accountable is the bare minimum. ICE is beyond reform. Abolish it,” she wrote in a Sunday post on X.