The U.S. Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown on February 14, 2026 after Congress failed to pass funding for the agency.

DHS components will furlough some staff and require others to work without pay, creating immediate staffing and morale constraints across airport screening, disaster response, and immigration operations. Contractors and state/local partners that rely on DHS reimbursements face payment delays until an appropriations deal is enacted. The shutdown also becomes a near-term forcing mechanism in the ICE oversight dispute, tightening the timeline for any operational-policy concessions tied to restoring funding.