FEMA shutdown drags on amid stalemate over immigration enforcement reforms

WASHINGTON – The nation’s main disaster relief and recovery agency is closed for the third time in recent months and its employees are on the verge of missing paychecks as members of Congress and the White House remain divided in a separate dispute over immigration enforcement.

Lawmakers are raising questions about what impact the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is having on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is housed within DHS. FEMA already lacks a eternal administrator, and President Donald Trump is threatening sweeping reform.

The agency is no stranger to shutdowns, leaving much of its workforce working without pay during a funding shortfall, although several programs are on pause until Congress approves a spending bill.

The longer the shutdown lasts, the more likely it is to impact FEMA workers, especially if thousands of its employees miss their first paycheck on Friday.

Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, chairwoman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said she hoped the lost revenue would enhance pressure on Democrats to reach an agreement on the last remaining federal funding bill for fiscal year 2026.

“You think about the winter storm that the South went through. Now you think about the winter storm we just had. We clearly need this to work and work,” Britt said.

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said he doesn’t believe the Trump administration is “serious” about reaching a bipartisan agreement on guardrails for immigration enforcement.

“We’ve sent them several compromises. They barely respond,” Murphy said. “I think it feels like they want the shutdown to continue because they are prioritizing continuing their lawlessness at ICE.”

Minneapolis shootings

Democrats withheld DHS funding after federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti during a surge in Minnesota in tardy January, just weeks after various immigration agents shot and killed Renee Good. Both were US citizens.

Democratic leaders have details several changes They want to take immigration enforcement measures, including requiring officers to wear body cameras and not wear masks.

Republicans have said they are willing to negotiate with Democrats on some of these issues but have failed to do so own wishesincluding the fact that cities and states that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities do so.

The two parties failed to negotiate an agreement before emergency funding for the Department of Homeland Security expired. bring down all of his agencies into another shutdown that has been dragging on since February 14th.

This is the third funding shortfall for DHS this fiscal year. The first, which affected enormous parts of the federal government, lasted 43 days and ended in mid-November. The second shutdown was partial because some of the full-year spending bills had taken effect. It took about four days ends February 3rd.

DHS Emergency plan says about 20,975 of FEMA’s approximately 24,925 employees will continue to work through the funding process.

Generally, any federal employee tasked with protecting life or property will continue to work during a shutdown, while those in charge of other programs should be sent home. Neither category will receive paychecks until Congress and the administration reach a funding agreement.

FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund has been somewhat unique among federal programs since it was authorized by Congress the authority to engage in deficit spending; Even during a shutdown, he can’t run out of money.

A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service notes that FEMA’s non-disaster grant and training programs tend to be suspended during a shutdown, potentially resulting in “award delays, possible delays in grant utilization, and postponement or cancellation of training and exercises that support state and local preparedness.”

Staffing has also been an ongoing problem for FEMA, not just during closures but in general, a report from the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog.

“Recent staff reductions at FEMA could reduce the effectiveness of a federal response to future high-impact disasters,” it said.

FEMA did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the state’s newsroom to share exactly how the shutdown has affected the agency and to provide a list of which programs are running during the funding expiration and which are on hold.

Mention criticism

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was concerned about how the shutdown has affected several Department of Homeland Security agencies.

“I fear that FEMA, the Coast Guard and the TSA will all bear the brunt of this shutdown, which is why it is important that we reach an agreement quickly,” Collins said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration, which protects the nation’s transportation systems.

Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Patty Murray, D-Wash., said there were problems with the way DHS Secretary Kristi Noem managed FEMA before the shutdown began.

“Well, let’s be clear, Noem wasn’t good at giving out emergency FEMA grants anyway,” Murray said. “That’s why I’m always worried about how she runs her agency.”

Trump has spoken about it repeatedly Overhaul or even abolish FEMA and set up a review council to make suggestions to him missed their deadline last year and have not yet published their report.

Trump also did not nominate anyone to lead FEMA during his second term in the White House, choosing instead to temporarily put a number of people in charge of the agency who did not have to go through the Senate confirmation process.

Cam Hamilton, one of those FEMA leaders, further said a podcast During his time at the agency, released in mid-February, there was “so much political turmoil,” thanks in part to Noem.

“The topics of conversation were not coherent. I must say that my previous boss was not as sophisticated and demanding in team building,” he said. “So it wasn’t easy to understand what the message is, what the platform is.”

Hamilton served as a senior official and administrator at FEMA until 2010 he was pushed out the following May he testified Before Congress, he personally “did not believe that it was in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”

“We had all the snow”

West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a senior appropriator and chairwoman of the Republican Policy Committee, said she was unhappy with the FEMA shutdown.

“I’m not happy with what’s been closed at FEMA and it should put pressure on Democrats to get it done,” Capito said. “We’ve had all this snow, we’re going to have more disasters and we rely heavily on FEMA in our state.”

Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said money is available for disaster relief but he worries “whether the people will be there to manage it.”

Peters said he believes DHS leaders, including Noem, are trying to make the shutdown more problematic than necessary.

“I think she’s trying to create pain,” Peters said. “She’s trying to cause pain instead of putting protections in place for ICE. It’s really quite outrageous what she’s doing.”