With no agreement on DHS funding, Congress leaves town

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Roll Call

Posted February 12, 2026 at 4:56pm


Lawmakers left Washington on Thursday without a deal on an immigration enforcement overhaul, virtually guaranteeing a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department when current funding runs out this weekend. Unless progress is made, neither chamber is expected to return to the Capitol next week, when Congress is scheduled to be in recess.

Bipartisan negotiations on an immigration plan were expected to continue over the recess. Leaders of both chambers told members they would be given 48 hours notice to return to the Capitol if a deal is reached.

The decision to leave came after the Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on a House-passed full-year Homeland Security appropriations bill. The vote was 52-47, with all Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania in opposition. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., flipped his vote to a “no” when it was clear the motion lacked enough support, in order to be able to reconsider the vote at a later time.

After the vote, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, immediately brought up a motion for a two-week continuing resolution under unanimous consent. “We are working in good faith to find a pathway forward,” she said. “What we’re asking is ‘let us continue to do that.’” Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., objected, saying Democrats had not received text from the White House until Wednesday night — “far too late to be able to engage in any compromise before the deadline.”

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/02/12/with-no-agreement-on-dhs-funding-congress-leaves-town/

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Monday is the President's Day holiday and Congress has off all the rest of next week for what they dub a "District Work Period".

REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143615411

[RussBLib]

1. good!

it's a backdoor method of defunding something rotten. I almost suspect the GOP of allowing this to happen because they themselves are not all that comfortable with the abuses rampant in ICE.

Cue Trump moaning in 3-2-1...

https://russblib.blogspot.com

[eggplant]

2. too bad, so sad

and no, we're not going to keep funding you for another two weeks.

[AverageOldGuy]

3. Fetterman . . . acting the asshole as usual

From Washington Post front page article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/12/congress-homeland-security-shutdown/

Every Democrat except one — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) — voted Thursday against advancing legislation to fund DHS through Sept. 30 before lawmakers left town for a week-long recess.

Meanwhile, Sen Chris Murphy holds the line.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) also blocked Republicans from extending DHS funding for two weeks, arguing that Democrats could not send the agency more money without new restraints on its agents.

“We have a constitutional obligation to only fund a Department of Homeland Security that is obeying the law, and this Department of Homeland Security is not obeying the law,” Murphy said on the Senate floor.