No money until Monday Another partial shutdown in the USA - Democrats want to block Trump's deportation policy
Once again, numerous government operations in the USA have been forced to take a break. There is no more money. A so-called shutdown is now underway - at least for the weekend.
31.01.2026, 06:44
31.01.2026, 08:30
dpa
Funding for numerous government operations in the USA has come to an end. This marks the start of a shutdown. The House of Representatives did not pass the necessary budget legislation in time before the previous funding expired on Saturday night (local time).
The Senate had agreed a compromise solution for follow-up funding at the last minute, but the House of Representatives is not expected to vote on the new budget laws until Monday at the earliest. US President Donald Trump will then have to sign them into law.
The background to the latest dispute over the budget in the US Congress is the harsh deportation policy of Trump's government and the deployment of federal security forces for this purpose in several American cities. The conflict over the budget escalated after the fatal shooting of two US citizens in the city of Minneapolis. Federal officials had shot them in the context of deportation raids against migrants. The Democrats in the Senate therefore threatened to completely block the budget legislation.
Democrats want to prevent raids by masked officers
Part of the compromise passed by the Senate on Friday was the regular passage of five budget bills plus a special provision for the Department of Homeland Security. The department, which is primarily responsible for Trump's tough stance against migrants, will initially only have a two-week transition budget. This gives the Democrats and Republicans time to negotiate a compromise that is capable of winning a majority.
Among other things, the Democrats are calling for the law to stipulate that federal law enforcement officers may no longer wear masks when taking action against migrants and should also wear body cameras.
Trump's Republicans have a narrow majority in both chambers of the US Congress. In the Senate, however, they are also dependent on the approval of some Democrats for procedural reasons.
It was only in November that the longest partial government shutdown in US history came to an end after 43 days. At that time, even more ministries and authorities were affected than now.
Protests against Trump's tough deportation policy
People have been protesting against Trump's deportation policy in US cities for some time. Former Democratic presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, for example, encouraged Americans to demonstrate peacefully.
The massive and sometimes martial action by thousands of police officers in Minneapolis - and the killing of US citizens in the process - significantly fueled the resistance once again in January. Even among Trump's Republicans in Congress, there were isolated signs of unease.
