The U.S. government entered a partial shutdown on Saturday, January 31, as the House awaited approval of the funding deal President Donald Trump worked out with Democrats. The delay is expected to be brief and essential federal workers, such as the military and air traffic controllers, will continue to work. The House is also expected to return from recess and Donald Trump is expected to endorse the package.
Unlike the federal government’s fall 2025 shutdown, most federal employees working weekends are considered essential workers and were not furloughed during this shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson recently said he expects the shutdown to end in a few days.
It’s the second time Congress has failed to fund the government since Trump returned to office last year. The 43-day shutdown during the fall was the longest and most devastating on record, with food aid halted to millions of households, thousands of flights canceled and federal workers without pay for more than a month.
This shutdown is more limited because some parts of the government are already fully funded through the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30.
This includes the Department of Agriculture, so food stamp programs will continue without interruption. Funding has also already been secured for National Parks, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Justice.
The affected authorities are the Ministry of Finance, Defense, Homeland Security, Transport, Health and Social Services and the Ministry of Labour. Those agencies will be closed, according to the White House memo.
“We hope this delay will be brief,” OMB Director Russ Vought wrote Friday, adding that the administration would be prepared to order the government to reopen once Trump signs the funding bill.
The House Rules Committee added a vote on the spending measure to its Monday afternoon meeting agenda to send it to the floor for final approval. It is unclear whether the Bureau of Labor Statistics will delay the release of its monthly jobs report, scheduled for Friday, if there is a brief government shutdown.
The fight over the stop erupted after US citizen Alex Pretti was killed in a confrontation with Border Patrol agents last weekend in Minneapolis. Democrats have refused to restore funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless new restrictions on immigration enforcement are imposed.
Democrats are calling for requirements for DHS agents to use body cameras and obtain warrants. They also want to ban undercover agents and stop large-scale immigration raids.
