On January 31, 2026, the Trump government went into a partial shutdown after Congress failed to pass a funding agreement for all government departments on time before a deadline.
For context, on Friday, the Senate passed multiple funding bills to fund most government agencies through the end of the fiscal year in September, and also gave a two-week funding extension to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s official.
The U.S. government has entered a partial shutdown after Congress missed the funding deadline!
Congress has until Monday to pass a deal and reopen the parts of government affected. 🇺🇸
This is getting out of hand. pic.twitter.com/gVhkHE40Wu
— Brian Rose, Founder & Host of London Real (@LondonRealTV) January 31, 2026
The two-week funding extension was given to the Department of Homeland Security to provide Congress extra time to negotiate rules and limits on how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates.
However, the House of Representatives is not expected to vote until Monday. As a result, the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government began at midnight at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time (0501 GMT), which is likely to be brief.
“Technically, there will be a partial government shutdown come midnight on Saturday,” said Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jorda on Friday.
She continued: “The earliest that the House of Representatives can take a look at the changes, which the US Senate approved late on Friday, is not before Monday. That’s because they’ve been in recess all this week. They should be coming back to Washington this weekend.”
According to the outlet, the government shutdown could last longer than expected because Democrats and Republicans strongly disagree over the Trump administration’s immigration raids and the recent deaths of two U.S. citizens during those operations, with democrats insisting on changes to how ICE operates before they approve further funding.
“So there is the expectation that this could be resolved early next week. But there is the possibility that it may not be,” added Jordan.
🇺🇸 Partial shutdown in the U.S.
Starting January 31, the U.S. federal government is operating at reduced capacity. Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) budget.
As a result, some federal agencies are left without… pic.twitter.com/XoUwAeUHtS
— Coin Corner (@CoinCorner_) January 31, 2026
Earlier this month, two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal officers. Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot dead on January 24, 2025, by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis, while Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7 at the same place.
The government sparked criticism over the handling of the case and their conflicting media statements. For instance, the DHS claimed that Pretti had a gun and resisted when officers tried to disarm him, and that he was shot in self-defence.
However, social media footage verified by The New York Times showed that Pretti had a phone instead of a gun. “At 9:05 AM CT, as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault, an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, seen here,” the DHS wrote on X.
“The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted,” the further claimed, adding, “Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.”
