DHS shutdown looms as Johnson navigates GOP divide over stopgap solutions

By Fox News · Fox News

A partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is all but guaranteed unless the Senate rams through a short-term extension of current funding levels sometime on Thursday. But avoiding a DHS shutdown means the same measure must also pass the House of Representatives, where success will depend on delicate political maneuvering by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to persuade a House Republican Conference with varying ideas of what a path forward should look like. "It would have to be for 60 or 90 days, I would think," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. "I don't know what’s going to happen in 30 days, I don’t know what’s going to change." Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to unveil a stopgap funding measure for DHS called a continuing resolution (CR), which would extend the department's current budget for a yet-unknown amount of time. ICE SHUTDOWN FIGHT MIGHT RESTRICT FEMA, COAST GUARD TO ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ EMERGENCIES It comes after Democrats walked away en masse from a bipartisan deal to fund DHS through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026 over what they saw as insufficient guardrails on agencies responsible for President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Congress has funded 97% of the federal government through FY2026 at this point. But DHS is a vast department with a broad jurisdiction that includes the U.S. Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — all of which will see varying levels of disruptions if a shutdown happens. Republicans largely want to avoid such a situation but have made clear they believe that its effects would fall squarely on Democrats' shoulders. DEMOCRATS SPLIT ON SHIELDING COAST GUARD, SECRET SERVICE AS DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT NEARS Conservatives like Norman favor an extended CR, arguing that it would fund Immigrations and Custo…