USA US Department of Homeland Security gets no more fresh money
The transition budget of the US Department of Homeland Security has expired without a successor. This means that the department, which is responsible for the controversial ICE migration authority, will no longer receive any fresh money and will have to restrict some of its operations. The background to this is a dispute between Democrats and Republicans in the US parliament over the sometimes brutal actions of the authorities against migrants. The transitional budget, which was only passed around two weeks ago, expired on Friday (local time).
14.02.2026, 06:19
SDA
The background to this is US President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation policy. Recently, there has been massive criticism of the raids against migrants by often masked and martial federal officials under the Department of Homeland Security. In the state of Minnesota, two US citizens were shot dead during such operations in the city of Minneapolis in January.
As a result, the Democrats in the Senate refused to approve the Department's budget and called for reforms in the operations of the federal security forces. Among other things, they are demanding that emergency personnel are no longer allowed to wear masks and must wear body cameras. Trump's Republicans are dependent on the support of several Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Struggling for a compromise solution
It is unclear when the Senate will vote again. According to US media reports, the White House and the Democrats are still struggling behind the scenes to find a compromise. It remains to be seen how long it could take before an agreement is reached.
In addition to the notorious immigration authority ICE, which is responsible for raids, the Department of Homeland Security also includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the Coast Guard, the Border Patrol (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which carries out checks at airports.
The extent of the impact in each case will also depend on the length of the funding gap. According to US media reports, most TSA employees will have to continue working without pay for the time being.
ICE, of all things, is unlikely to run out of money for the time being
However, the implementation of Trump's controversial migration policy is unlikely to change, at least in the short term: The ICE agency and the Border Patrol still have other funds at their disposal that had previously been approved.
A major shutdown - i.e. a standstill in government business - is also ruled out. With the exception of the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, the US Congress has already passed the budget.
