DHS Shuts Down as 260,000 Workers Lose Funding in a Standoff Over ICE Conduct Rules

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed at midnight on February 13, 2026, and a partial shutdown of the department began February 14, affecting more than 260,000 employees across ICE, Customs and Border Protection, TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Senate Democrats blocked a Republican short-term extension, demanding a ten-point list of immigration enforcement reforms including body cameras for immigration officers and a ban on officers wearing masks to conceal their identities. The demands followed the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis.

Unlike the October 2025 government-wide lapse, this shutdown was confined to a single department and centered on the terms of immigration enforcement rather than overall spending levels — using the appropriations process to attach operational conduct rules to an agency's funding.

Republicans opposed the mask restriction, arguing it would make officers identifiable and put them at risk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said "Democrats will not support a blank check for chaos"; Majority Leader John Thune said "we're not close." The lapse continued for weeks; later reporting referenced a day-42 stage of the standoff.