At a congressional hearing on February 11, 2026, lawmakers were told that a funding shortfall creates ongoing challenges to the Coast Guard’s workforce, readiness and long-term capabilities. In this photo, Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Tate, an aviation maintenance technician with Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, hangs a net full of beach debris and trash from the bottom of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter near Neah Bay, Washington, Jan. 22, 2015. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg)
WASHINGTON – Executives from several Department of Homeland Security agencies testified Wednesday before a U.S. House panel about the impact a closure would have on the programs they oversee, even as Democrats argued the hearing was a “show” that would not bring lawmakers any closer to an agreement on limits on federal immigration enforcement.
Congress has until midnight Friday to pass a stopgap bill or reach a bipartisan agreement on the department’s overall funding bill, which has been held up by Democrats following the killing of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis. Otherwise, the department will initiate a shutdown.
Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said it was unacceptable that neither Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem nor leaders from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection attended the hearing.
“Democrats have requested their presence. Why aren’t they here?” DeLauro said. “That should tell you all you need to know about what this hearing is really about. It is not about addressing the real concerns of millions of Americans about the unchecked brutality of officers in these agencies, brutality that has resulted in the deaths of two Americans and countless others seriously injured.”
DeLauro countered that Republicans held the hearing to insinuate that Democrats were not concerned about consistent funding for the many agencies within DHS, including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration.
“In fact, it is the Republican leadership that has chosen to hold your agencies hostage to avoid implementing reforms that they know are necessary to protect our community from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol,” DeLauro said.
Republican Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada, chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said he chose not to invite Noem because he wanted to “talk to the operational people,” and he chose not to invite ICE and CBP executives because they had done so testified before a separate House committee Tuesday.
Amodei said passing a DHS funding bill before Friday’s midnight deadline appears to be “a very big task.”
“A shutdown has moved from a distinct possibility to a probability,” Amodei said. “But not all components will bear the pain equally during a homeland shutdown.”
Amodei said that ICE and CBP’s “missions will be largely unaffected by a shutdown,” in part because of Republicans provided the two agencies with more than $150 billion in the party’s “big, beautiful” bill.
Most Homeland Security employees remain on duty
A government shutdown this time, unlike last year, would only affect the Department of Homeland Security because Congress has approved the other 11 annual government funding bills.
The other agencies within DHS would have different impacts. Generally, all employees focused on national security issues or the protection of life and property would continue to work during a shutdown, while federal employees who do not would be furloughed.
None of the categories of employees will receive their paychecks during the funding expiration, although federal law requires that they receive back pay once Congress approves a spending bill.
Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said the “reality is that almost 90% of the department will continue to operate even if Congress cannot complete its work by the end of the week.”
Heads of state and government are being asked to forego the break next week
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., called on GOP leaders to cancel the recess scheduled for next week, when many lawmakers plan to travel to Germany for the Munich Security Conference.
Cole argued that if a deal is not reached before the deadline, members should remain on Capitol Hill to negotiate a deal on homeland security funding.
“I’m telling you personally: I think it’s irresponsible for Congress to go out and not solve the problem,” Cole said. “I’m sure Munich is a great place. I’ve been there many times. The beer is excellent. But we don’t need to go to a defense conference somewhere in Europe if we don’t care about the defense of the United States of America.”
Cole said he would be “embarrassed to walk past a TSA agent who doesn’t get paid so I can go somewhere else. And that’s my personal opinion.”
“That’s not necessarily the opinion of my leadership or anyone else, but we should stay here and solve the problem. We should make sure that men and women who we’ve already put in a terrible situation for 43 days don’t have to go through that again.”
Missing paychecks for the Coast Guard
Adm. Thomas Allan, vice commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, told lawmakers, “A funding shortfall poses significant and lasting challenges to our workforce, our readiness and our long-term capabilities.”
“An interruption lasting more than a few days will result in the Coast Guard’s 56,000 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel no longer being paid,” Allan said. “This is not a remote administrative issue. The uncertainty over missing paychecks negatively impacts readiness and creates significant financial hardship for service members and their families.”
Closings, he said, “weaken morale and directly impact our ability to recruit and retain the talented Americans we need to meet growing demands.”
Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said during the 43-day government shutdown When it ended in November, she heard stories about “officers sleeping in their cars at airports to save gas, selling their blood and plasma, and taking second jobs to make ends meet.”
“Many were hit with late fees for missed bill payments, eviction notices, lack of child care and more. At the same time, they were expected to serve their country and perform at their best in uniform,” McNeill said. “Twelve weeks later, some are just beginning to recover from the financial impact.”
McNeill testified that “TSA’s important national security mission does not end during a shutdown; approximately 95%, or 61,000, of TSA employees are considered essential and continue to work to protect the traveling public during a shutdown without being paid.”
Matthew Quinn, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, said agents would continue to report to work but stressed that a shutdown would still have consequences.
“To the casual observer there will be no visible difference,” Quinn said. “However, funding gaps have a profound impact on our agency today and in the future.”
Gregg Phillips, deputy administrator in FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, said a closure “would significantly impact FEMA’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs and support our recovery from disasters.”
