US government enters partial shutdown as Congress misses budget deadline

US partial shutdown

The US government has entered a partial shutdown as midnight funding deadline passed without Congress approving a 2026 budget. This is the second time Congress has failed to fund the government since Trump returned to office last year.

The funding lapse came after negotiations collapsed amid Democratic outrage over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, scuttling talks on fresh funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The impact, however, is expected to be short-lived, as the House is likely to take up the Senate-backed agreement for ratification early next week.

"Instead of going after drug smugglers, child predators, and human traffickers, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable resources targeting peaceful protestors in Chicago and Minneapolis," Senate Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin posted on social media, adding that "This Administration continues to make Americans less safe."

Late on Friday, the Senate approved a package resolving five remaining funding bills to finance most federal agencies through September, along with a two-week stopgap measure to keep the Department of Homeland Security running as lawmakers continue talks on immigration enforcement policy.

US President Donald Trump threw his support behind the Senate deal and called on the House to act quickly, signaling his intent to avert a prolonged shutdown.  A 43-day shutdown in US during the autumn was the longest and most disruptive ever, with food aid halted to millions of households, thousands of flights canceled and federal workers going without pay for more than a month.