Byline: A Senior Financial Correspondent

What to know about the partial government shutdown

A partial U.S. government shutdown is officially underway after lawmakers failed to pass a crucial spending package before a midnight Friday deadline. But this is no ordinary budget impasse. While a deal to restore funding appears tantalizingly close, a last-minute, high-stakes confrontation over federal immigration policy has derailed a swift resolution, leaving the government's operational status in the hands of a politically divided House of Representatives when it returns to Washington on Monday.

The funding lapse affects a wide swath of the federal government, including the Departments of Defense, State, Health and Human Services, and others. For now, the immediate impact is muted by the weekend, but the legislative clock is ticking loudly, with the true test of this shutdown set to begin with the work week.

The Big Picture: A Shutdown on the Brink of a Deal

While the term "government shutdown" evokes images of widespread disruption, the current situation is more nuanced. The Senate has already acted, forging a bipartisan path forward that could see this funding lapse end as quickly as it began.

However, the mechanics of Washington require the House to concur, and that is where the process has stalled.

• The Current Status: Funding has technically expired for several major federal agencies.
• The Senate's Move: On Friday, the upper chamber approved a comprehensive package to fund most of the affected agencies through the end of the fiscal year in September.
• The Sticking Point: For the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Senate passed only a two-week stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution. This is a deliberate move designed to buy time for intense negotiations.
• The House Hold-Up: The House is on recess until Monday, making a weekend shutdown inevitable. Upon their return, they must vote on the package passed by the Senate.

How We Got Here: A Tragic Catalyst Upends Negotiations

Just over a week ago, congressional leaders were on a clear path to avoiding a shutdown entirely. A nearly $1.3 trillion spending package, covering defense, health, transportation, and more, was nearing the finish line.

That trajectory was violently disrupted by breaking news from Minnesota, where federal immigration officers were involved in the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens this month.

The incidents ignited a firestorm, prompting a swift and forceful reaction from Democrats who pledged to withhold their support for any government funding bill that did not include significant policy changes governing federal immigration enforcement. The focus of the budget battle instantly pivoted from dollars and cents to a heated debate over accountability and the conduct of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Senate's Two-Track Solution

Faced with a new Democratic blockade, the Senate leadership engineered a two-part compromise to prevent a full-blown, long-term shutdown while acknowledging the gravity of the new demands.

• Long-Term Funding: The Senate passed five appropriations bills to fund the Departments of Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; State; and Financial Services. This provides stability for the bulk of the affected government operations through September 30.
• A Short-Term Lifeline for DHS: By extending Homeland Security funding for only two weeks, the Senate created a high-pressure window for lawmakers to negotiate the reforms Democrats are demanding. This isolates the most contentious issue, allowing the rest of the government to resume normal function once the House approves the measure.

The House Hurdle: A Gauntlet of Political Challenges

The fate of the Senate's painstakingly crafted deal now rests with the House, where its passage is far from guaranteed. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) presides over a razor-thin Republican majority, affording him little room for error.

The legislation faces a perilous journey upon its arrival in the lower chamber.

• The Rules Committee: Before any bill can reach the House floor for a vote, it must first pass through the powerful Rules Committee. A few defections from conservative Republicans on this committee could stop the package in its tracks.
• The Freedom Caucus: The conservative House Freedom Caucus has already voiced its opposition to the spending plan, viewing it as insufficiently conservative. Their opposition increases the pressure on Speaker Johnson and raises the likelihood that he will need Democratic votes to pass the bill.
• A Race Against the Clock: If the bill clears the Rules Committee on Monday, House leadership is expected to bring it to the floor for a vote quickly. A successful vote would end the partial shutdown with minimal real-world disruption. A failure would plunge the agencies into a more serious and prolonged operational crisis.

At the Heart of the Dispute: Demands for DHS Reform

The tragic events in Minnesota have galvanized Democrats, who are now insisting on a broad slate of reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability within federal immigration enforcement agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Their demands represent a fundamental push to change how officers operate in the field.

• Officer Conduct and Identification: Democrats are calling for a ban on officers wearing masks, a mandate for body cameras, and the creation of a uniform code of conduct and use-of-force standards. They also want agents to display clearer identification.
• Warrants and Patrols: The proposed changes include new rules governing the types of warrants immigration officers can use to enter private homes and an end to "roving patrols," where officers conduct broad stops of individuals they suspect are in the country illegally.
• Accountability and Oversight: A key demand is making it easier for citizens to pursue legal action against federal officers for misconduct. They are also pushing for "independent investigations" into allegations of wrongdoing.

What Happens Next: The Path Forward

All eyes are now on the House of Representatives. The next 48 hours are critical.

• Best-Case Scenario: The House quickly passes the Senate package on Monday. The government fully reopens, and the shutdown is treated as a minor weekend disruption. The focus then shifts to the two-week negotiation over DHS policy.
• Worst-Case Scenario: The bill fails in the House Rules Committee or on the floor. The partial shutdown extends, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal employees and military personnel to work without pay and disrupting government services. This would trigger a new, more intense crisis as lawmakers scramble to find a path forward.

Even if the immediate shutdown is resolved, Congress has set the stage for another fiscal cliff in just two weeks. That deadline will center exclusively on the Department of Homeland Security and the deeply divisive issue of immigration enforcement, ensuring that the political battle is far from over.

Barbara Sprunt, Ximena Bustillo, and Sam Gringlas contributed to the source reporting.