How the DHS shutdown will impact the average American
Funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is set to expire on Saturday, as lawmakers continue clashing over proposed limits on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.
“Technically, in a shutdown, we have exempted personnel (and) non-exempted personnel,” said Terry Gerton, host of The Federal Drive on Federal News Network. “But in DHS, most of the work would not stop.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received billions of dollars in funding under the One Big Beautiful Bill passed last summer, meaning immigration enforcement activities will continue.
Gerton noted that many DHS components — including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — will also keep operating because they carry out essential missions.
“Federal workers who are working may not get paid, but the first paychecks they’re likely to miss don’t hit until early to mid-March,” Gerton said. “There may be some administrative and support personnel who may be furloughed, depending on the role and component.”
Because so many DHS functions will continue, Gerton said the shutdown will likely be barely noticeable to most Americans at first. The earliest signs of strain would appear at major airports if TSA agents begin missing paychecks.
“If the DHS shutdown lasts beyond mid-March, spring break travel could be affected. That’s likely when you’d first see it,” she said. “The thought in Congress is that allows them plenty of time to have ongoing negotiations until the average American raises the political temperature enough that it really does force some action.”