Government Shutdown 2026: DHS Workers Are Unpaid for the Third Time While ICE Gets $75 Billion

The 2026 government shutdown entered its seventh day on February 21, with no resolution in sight: the Department of Homeland Security has been partially shut down since February 14, leaving Coast Guard personnel, TSA screeners, and FEMA workers reporting to work without pay — for the third time this fiscal year. Congressional Democrats and the White House remain deadlocked over DHS funding, and the stalemate is now threatening to trigger mass TSA airport disruptions during spring break travel season in March.

Key Takeaways
• DHS has been partially shut down since February 14 — the third shutdown of this fiscal year
• ~92% of DHS employees are still reporting to work without pay, including TSA, Coast Guard, and FEMA
• The stalemate centers on a demand for $64.4 billion more for DHS — on top of $150 billion already unspent from the GOP megabill
• Democrats framed the core contrast: Congress cut $1 trillion from Medicaid to give $75 billion to ICE
• TSA workers won’t miss a full paycheck until mid-March — right when spring break travel begins
• FEMA is simultaneously being cut in half while managing a shutdown and active disaster recovery

Live Updates: DHS Shutdown Escalation

Feb 28 — 2:10 PM PT: SHUTDOWN MEETS WAR — DHS FUNDING GAP NOW A NATIONAL SECURITY CRISIS. Day 14. Former DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Tom Warrick (Atlantic Council): “This war will have a home front in the United States… The Secret Service, FBI, and US Capitol Police will all be tested in the coming weeks and can afford zero failures.” With Operation Epic Fury underway and Iranian retaliation active, TSA officers, Coast Guard personnel, and FEMA workers remain on duty without pay due to the ongoing DHS funding lapse. CNBC notes: “It is not immediately clear how the Iran strikes will influence ongoing negotiations over DHS funding… could exacerbate already heightened national security concerns.” DHS Sec. Noem previously warned shutdown was “endangering our national security.” Iran cyberattack risk elevated — DHS oversees US critical infrastructure cyber defense (ports, water plants, hospitals). Congress war powers fight now entangled with shutdown politics — Democrats withholding DHS funds may face pressure to fund it given active conflict.

Feb 27 — 6:15 PM PT: White House sends new DHS funding counteroffer; FEMA disaster fund weaponized. The Trump administration delivered a new Homeland Security funding proposal to congressional Democrats late Thursday. Senate Minority Leader Schumer and House Minority Leader Jeffries confirmed they are reviewing it. Separately, the Trump administration tapped more than half the remaining balance in the nation’s FEMA disaster relief fund this week and is now warning Democrats of “dire” consequences if the shutdown continues — using the dwindling disaster aid as leverage. DHS Secretary Noem also warned the shutdown is directly impacting security preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in America. Day 13 of the partial DHS shutdown; TSA, FEMA, and CISA workers remain unpaid. (Sources: Politico, The Hill, Spectrum News)

Feb 26, 2026 — 6:06 PM PT: CBP will use funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to exempt and pay 57,600 employees during the shutdown — the same mechanism used during last fall’s 43-day lapse. However, roughly 5,600 CBP employees remain “excepted” and continue working unpaid. TSA, FEMA, CISA, and Coast Guard civilian personnel are not covered and continue working without pay. All excepted employees are guaranteed back pay by a 2019 law once funding is restored, but workers will miss their first full paycheck if the shutdown extends into March. Day 13 of the DHS funding lapse — Senate returned Thursday with no scheduled vote.

Feb 25, 2026 — 9:25 AM PT: The Senate failed to advance a bipartisan DHS funding bill to end the partial government shutdown, falling short 50–45 — 10 votes below the 60 needed for cloture. DHS workers now enter their 12th consecutive day without pay. Senate Republicans blocked the measure; no new vote is scheduled. The shutdown appears set to continue into a third week with no visible path to resolution.

Feb 22, 2026 — 3:00 AM PT: DHS officially enters emergency operating status. Effective 6:00 AM ET today, the department implemented sweeping service cuts due to lack of appropriations — now one week into the shutdown. Key impacts: (1) TSA PreCheck lanes closed at all airports — all travelers directed to general screening lanes; (2) CBP Global Entry suspended at all participating airports; (3) FEMA halts all non-disaster recovery work — public assistance paused for ongoing and legacy disasters, long-term recovery efforts suspended, only active life-threatening emergencies will receive response; (4) All Congressional courtesy escorts at airports and ports of entry suspended. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: “This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress… TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts.” The timing is particularly acute: a major winter storm is forecast to hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast this weekend, and FEMA will not be operating at full capacity to respond. Source: DHS official press release

Who Is Actually Working Without Pay?

This isn’t a shutdown where everyone gets a paid vacation. About 92% of DHS employees are still showing up to work — because their jobs are classified as essential for life or property protection. They just aren’t getting paid while they do it.

That means:

• TSA screeners at every major airport are working without paychecks, with the TSA warning of growing delays if the shutdown stretches into March
• U.S. Coast Guard personnel — including civilian employees — are working unpaid for the third time this year. One Coast Guard civilian told Government Executive: “I did not dig out from the last shutdown before this one began. I’m struggling. I’m not going to paint a picture that I’m OK financially.”
• FEMA workers are managing active disaster recovery programs without pay — while the Trump administration simultaneously pursues plans to cut roughly half of FEMA’s workforce
• Secret Service has paused ongoing security reforms
• Coast Guard is grounding aircraft and curtailing training missions

Some workers are getting creative. One DHS office is rotating voluntary furlough days — employees take unpaid days off to avoid the commute cost, since the 80-mile round trip is now a net loss. Others are rationing childcare, leaning on family for groceries, and navigating creditors who were flexible last time but aren’t anymore.

What Is the Shutdown Actually About?

The White House wants $64.4 billion more for DHS — including $10 billion specifically for ICE. Democrats refuse to approve it. Their argument: DHS already received $170 billion from last summer’s GOP megabill, of which roughly $150 billion remains unspent. Why give the same department another $64 billion when the first tranche hasn’t been deployed?

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries summed up the core tension at a press conference this week, standing in front of a poster that read: “Trump’s big ugly bill cut $1 trillion from Medicaid and gave $75 billion to ICE.”

That is the actual trade-off on the table. The same bill that gutted Medicaid — a program that covers low-income Americans, disabled people, and nursing home residents — handed ICE a historic windfall. Now, with that windfall mostly unspent, Republicans are demanding more while essential workers go without pay.

The negotiating sticking points go deeper than money. Democrats are demanding judicial warrants for immigration arrests and a ban on ICE agents concealing their identities with face coverings. The White House calls both demands non-starters. Neither side has publicly announced progress since Congress left for recess. Lawmakers return Monday.

The shutdown was triggered in part by the killing of Alex Pretti — a Veterans Affairs Department nurse fatally shot by federal agents while protesting ICE operations in Minnesota. That shooting collapsed a bipartisan deal that had been within reach and hardened Democratic opposition.

Government Shutdown 2026: Impact on Workers

The government shutdown 2026 is the third federal funding lapse of this fiscal year — a record pace of fiscal dysfunction that is grinding down the people at the bottom of the federal workforce who can least afford it.

For context: the last DHS shutdown lasted 43 days. That shutdown ended. Workers got back pay. And then, before many had finished repaying the no-interest emergency loans from Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, the next shutdown started.

The economic logic here is nakedly generational. The workers absorbing these repeated pay shocks aren’t the senior executives or political appointees insulated by savings and connections. They are mid-career working-class federal employees — many of them Millennials and Gen X — commuting 80 miles a day, paying for childcare, carrying loans from the last shutdown, and being told to trust that Congress will eventually make them whole.

The Q4 2025 GDP data released Friday showed government spending posted its biggest decline since 1972 — in large part because of last year’s shutdown. The economy is already paying the price. These workers are paying twice.

How Does This Connect to the Bigger Picture?

This isn’t an isolated budget dispute. It’s a preview of what the next decade looks like when a government systematically defunds the services that working people rely on while supercharging the enforcement machinery that protects capital and suppresses dissent.

Consider what’s happening simultaneously:

• DOGE is cutting federal agencies across the board — dismantling entire departments that took decades to build
• US military spending is surging as the White House masses two carrier strike groups in the Middle East
• The defense budget is crossing $1 trillion while civilian agencies face brutal cuts
• Meanwhile, the GOP megabill cut $1 trillion from Medicaid — the safety net that covers 80 million Americans — to fund more border enforcement on top of the $170 billion already deployed

The framing from the White House — that Democrats are “choosing to hurt FEMA workers and TSA agents for political reasons” — is a masterclass in misdirection. The people who made the choice to zero out Medicaid for ICE funding are the same people now demanding to know why Democrats won’t add to the pile.

For Millennials and Gen Z, this isn’t abstract. These are the exact trade-offs that define the generational economic divide: you don’t get healthcare, housing assistance, or reliable government services — but your tax dollars will absolutely fund the largest immigration enforcement apparatus in American history.

What Happens Next?

Congress returns from recess Monday. Negotiators have announced no progress. Several timelines are now converging:

• Early March: TSA workers miss their first full paycheck — the breaking point when screeners may begin calling in sick en masse, creating airport chaos heading into spring break
• Mid-March: All US military forces are expected to be in position around Iran, per National Security Council briefings — an expensive foreign operation running simultaneously with domestic austerity
• State of the Union: Trump delivers his address to Congress next week without a DHS funding deal in place — a symbolic and political liability

Democrats are exploring a fallback option: fund all DHS agencies except ICE and CBP. That would reopen FEMA, Coast Guard, and TSA while leaving immigration enforcement unfunded — forcing Republicans to own the political choice of keeping ICE shutdown-proof at the expense of everyone else.

Don’t hold your breath for a clean resolution. The same Congress that has now triggered three shutdowns in one fiscal year doesn’t have a compelling track record of getting its act together before the damage is done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the government shut down right now in 2026?
Partially. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since February 14, 2026 — the third DHS funding lapse of this fiscal year. All other federal agencies are funded through September. TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Secret Service are all affected.

Are TSA agents still working during the 2026 shutdown?
Yes — about 92% of DHS employees, including TSA screeners, are still reporting to work because their roles are deemed essential. However, they are not being paid and will miss their first full paycheck in early March. TSA leadership has warned of airport delays if the shutdown extends into spring break travel season.

What caused the 2026 DHS government shutdown?
The shutdown was triggered by a collapse in negotiations over DHS funding. The White House is demanding $64.4 billion more for DHS (including $10 billion for ICE), while Democrats argue DHS already has $150 billion in unspent funds from last summer’s GOP megabill. The stalemate deepened after federal agents fatally shot a nurse protesting ICE operations in Minnesota, which destroyed a near-final bipartisan deal.

Will federal workers get back pay from the 2026 shutdown?
Historically yes — Congress has approved retroactive back pay in both prior shutdowns this fiscal year, and passed a law in 2019 guaranteeing it for all future shutdowns. However, the White House has declined to explicitly guarantee back pay for workers who voluntarily furlough themselves, creating uncertainty for those trying to reduce commuting costs during the shutdown.

Sources & Methodology

This article draws on reporting from Politico, Government Executive, and Reuters on the partial DHS government shutdown that began February 14, 2026. Direct quotes from DHS and Coast Guard employees are sourced from Government Executive’s reporting. Congressional quotes are sourced from Politico’s on-the-record reporting. GDP data is sourced from the Reuters Q4 2025 GDP analysis published February 20, 2026.