It’s shutdown week once again for Congress.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security runs out on Friday. Just like any good shutdown deadline, this one is bumping up against the weeklong Presidents Day recess. You’ll hear a lot of threats in the coming days about canceling the recess, nixing overseas congressional delegation trips and keeping both chambers in for the weekend.
The House and Senate return tonight, which gives lawmakers just a few days to sort out this unusual situation. Only one federal agency is under threat of a shutdown, but it’s a massive department with more than 260,000 employees. Meaning this is a big problem.
President Donald Trump’s harsh immigration crackdown, and ICE’s role in executing it, are at the center of this dispute. Democratic leaders have issued a list of proposed changes to ICE policies and procedures, but there’s little chance that Trump and GOP leaders will accept them. Democrats only just formally shared their proposed legislative text with Republicans on Sunday.
As of now, having Congress passing a bipartisan deal to fund DHS through Sept. 30 by the Friday deadline seems very unlikely. In fact, an agreement may not be possible at all as the two sides remain far apart. The key question is whether enough Senate Democrats will support another short-term funding patch for DHS — and what happens if they refuse.
Democratic votes will only materialize if negotiators have made enough progress for a handful of Senate Democrats to justify another extension. While staff-level talks continued over the weekend, Republicans’ outright dismissal of the Democratic offer is raising doubts about that prospect. Senate Majority Leader John Thune could begin taking initial procedural steps as soon as today on a legislative vehicle for a DHS CR.
But a DHS shutdown can only be averted at this stage if all 100 senators agree to hold a vote before Thursday evening, when several senators are scheduled to depart for the Munich Security Conference and other international destinations.
Expect to hear a lot from Republicans this week about how ICE is already funded because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so a funding lapse would affect critical agencies like FEMA, TSA and the U.S. Coast Guard.
House Republicans had no plans as of late Sunday night to put a new, short-term DHS funding bill on the floor. House GOP leaders will argue that they’ve already passed a DHS funding bill and Senate Democrats are blocking it.
The SAVE America Act. House Republican leaders also plan to have the SAVE America Act on the floor this week.
The SAVE America Act is a citizenship test and voter ID law for federal elections. The legislation, pushed primarily by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), would mandate proof of U.S. citizenship when voting in federal elections, meaning REAL ID-compliant identification cards or passports. It also requires states to remove undocumented immigrants from voter rolls.
Despite dramatic claims from Trump and Republicans, there’s little evidence that voting by undocumented immigrants has had any impact on federal elections.
This legislation isn’t going anywhere in the Senate. Democrats see Trump talking about having to “nationalize elections” and the Justice Department’s pursuit of state voter rolls as a threat of federal intervention if the midterms go badly for Republicans. So there’s no chance this measure can overcome a Senate Democratic filibuster.
The House GOP leadership will consider the bill under a rule, meaning it needs just a simple majority for passage. The SAVE Act, the previous version of this legislation, passed in April 2025 with four Democratic ‘yes’ votes: Reps. Ed Case (Hawaii), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Henry Cuellar (Texas) and Jared Golden (Maine).
Other House action. Housing for the 21st Century Act, House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill’s (R-Ark.) bipartisan bill, will be on the floor under suspension of the rules. This should pass given the roster of Democratic and GOP players co-sponsoring the legislation.
Also, two lower stakes items: Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) has a bill to create a $2.50 coin for the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The House wants to create a time capsule to be buried in the Capitol Visitors Center. The capsule will include a letter from the House and Senate leadership. The bill mandates that the 244th Congress open the capsule on July 4, 2276 – 250 years from now. Good luck to all involved.
