USA No shutdown after all? Agreement in sight in the US budget dispute
Republicans and Democrats have agreed on a bipartisan temporary solution in the US budget dispute. This could avert a partial shutdown of the US government - although a final vote in the Senate is still pending. The current transitional funding expires on Saturday night.
30.01.2026, 05:25
30.01.2026, 09:28
SDA
Leading Democrats confirmed the agreement, as reported by the New York Times, among others. According to the US broadcaster CNN, there was still no vote on Thursday evening (local time) as there was no agreement on the parliamentary procedure. The outline of the deal had previously been worked out by negotiators from both parties and the White House.
US President Donald Trump wrote on his online platform Truth Social that he hoped for approval in parliament. "The only thing that can slow our country down is another long and damaging government shutdown."
The Senate plans to reconvene this Friday from 11:00 local time (17:00 CET) in order to pass the budget before midnight. At least one Republican senator has announced opposition, a Democratic source in the Senate told CBS News.
A so-called shutdown is when the budget expires and no follow-up funding is agreed. In this case, many federal agencies would have to stop their work in whole or in part. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must approve new spending; in the Senate, this often requires at least 60 of a total of 100 votes, which is why the Republicans are dependent on votes from the Democrats despite their narrow majority. The longest partial government shutdown in US history only ended in November.
Turn six into five: Will this get the cow off the ice?
The US budget is based on twelve annual spending bills. Six of them have already been passed and signed for the current financial year until the end of September. Among other things, they secure funding for the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior.
The six remaining bills have already passed the House of Representatives but still have to be approved by the Senate. They concern, among other things, the Departments of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Transportation as well as the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
According to consistent media reports, the following solution is now emerging: Five bills to fund the budget will be passed and the controversial Department of Homeland Security budget will be removed from the package for now. There will initially be a two-week transitional funding period for the department to allow time for negotiations to refine the law.
Democrats want to end deportation raids
The Democrats had previously announced that they would block the budget legislation in the Senate in protest against the government's rigorous deportation policy. They want to push through changes to the budget of the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for the operations.
Following the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis, the Democrats are demanding, among other things, that federal officers should no longer be allowed to wear masks during operations against migrants and should also wear body cameras. No agreement has yet been reached with the Republicans on these demands.
