US federal government enters a 'partial shutdown' amid clashes over immigration policy

Set to be lifted in the House early next week

The US federal government entered a partial shutdown on the 30th (local time) as political infighting over the administration’s immigration enforcement policy spilled over.

A federal budget bill that had been widely seen as likely to fail narrowly cleared the Senate just ahead of the deadline (midnight on the 30th), averting an immediate crisis. However, a budget gap of several days has become unavoidable until the House acts on it on the 2nd of next month.

According to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Defense, Department of the Treasury, Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and other agencies entered the shutdown at 12:01 a.m. Budget support for the relevant departments will be suspended until the package passes the House, and roughly three-quarters of government functions are expected to be affected, AFP reported.

This is the second shutdown since President Donald Trump returned to power. On Truth Social, Trump backed the Senate’s budget agreement and urged swift action by the House—widely read as a signal he wants to prevent the situation from dragging on, as it did during last year’s shutdown that paralyzed government functions for more than a month.

However, foreign media said the practical impact is likely to be limited, as programs with high public visibility such as food assistance have already received funding approval and the House is likely to take up the bill as scheduled early next week.

Ahead of the shutdown, the Senate passed—by 71 votes to 29—a budget package comprising five appropriations bills that would fund federal agencies including the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services through September 30, as well as a two-week stopgap funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The $1.2 trillion (about KRW 1,741 trillion) package passed on the day is a bipartisan budget deal agreed by the White House and Democrats.

Democrats urged that DHS funding be separated from the broader package, saying they would not approve the department’s budget until the Trump administration agrees to reforms that would regulate hardline immigration enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In response, Trump and Democrats agreed the previous day to pass the five-bill package excluding DHS and to approve a measure extending current DHS funding for two weeks.

The House, currently in recess, is expected to convene a session early next week to move forward with the budget process. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, is said to be seriously considering advancing the bill on a fast-track basis on the 2nd of next month, Politico reported. That would require support from at least two-thirds of members.

Park Soo-rim, Hankyung.com reporter paksr365@hankyung.com