A partial government shutdown has hit the Department of Homeland Security. Here’s what that means

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown that began February 14, after Congress failed to fund the agency. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends.

Overall, much of the public probably won’t notice a change – but travelers have had to contend with longer security lines at many airports at times since the Transportation Security Administration is among the DHS divisions affected by the funding impasse.

Dozens of Senate Democrats are demanding major reforms to DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement before they will agree to fund the agency for the rest of the fiscal year. They have tried to fund DHS’ other divisions, including the TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but Republicans have said they won’t do so for slices of the agency.

Talks between the White House and Democrats have been moving slowly. The two sides have been trading proposals but have been unable to come to an agreement.

President Donald Trump is no stranger to government shutdowns. He also presided over one in his first term, which lasted 35 days and had been the longest on record until last year’s 43-day impasse.

Here’s what we know about a partial government shutdown affecting DHS:

What is the debate around funding DHS?

The shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by DHS immigration agents during protests in Minneapolis in January sparked widespread public outcry and prompted the Senate Democrats’ demands.

The Democrats have said they want to restrict roving patrols, tighten parameters around warrants for searches and arrests, toughen use-of-force policies and require US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to wear body cameras and remove their masks.

The Democrats’ proposal from mid-March is largely the same as prior ones, said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican. The most recent White House offer included as much as $100 million for body cams, limits on enforcement operations at sensitive locations, increased oversight of federal detention facilities and a requirement that most immigration agents clearly identify themselves.

How is this shutdown affecting air travel?

Typically, a major pain point during a shutdown is the snarling of flights due to staffing issues among air traffic controllers. That won’t be an issue in this case, because controllers are part of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration, which has already received funding for the rest of the fiscal year.

However, longer lines are appearing at times at many airport security checkpoints since TSA officers are not being paid, and more screeners are not showing up for work.

The workers missed their first full paycheck in mid-March, after only receiving a partial paycheck at the end of February. At least 366 transportation security officers have quit since the start of the most recent shutdown, according to DHS.

Lines at security checkpoints have stretched for hours at airports across the country at times in March. Airports in Houston and Atlanta have been particularly hard hit.

About 61,000 TSA employees must remain on the job at the nation’s more than 430 commercial airports during a shutdown. Many live paycheck to paycheck, Ha Nguyen McNeill, a senior official performing the duties of TSA administrator, said in written testimony for a House subcommittee hearing before the funding lapsed.

“During a shutdown, the ability to pay for rent, bills, groceries, childcare, and gas just to get to work becomes very challenging, leading to increased unscheduled absences (call outs) as a shutdown progresses,” she said. “Higher call outs can result in longer wait times at checkpoints, leading to missed or delayed flights, which has a cascading negative impact on the American economy.”

The shutdown is weighing on staffers, who had to deal with the record-long lapse only a few months ago. Some are taking out loans from their retirement accounts to pay their bills, while others are depending on food donations and gas gift cards from travelers and airports.

“People are tired of the uncertainty,” said Johnny Jones, secretary/treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100, the union representing those workers. “It causes so much disruption.”

Also, DHS recently reversed its decision to pause the Global Entry program, which allows pre-screened passengers expedited entry into the United States after traveling abroad.

The agency said last month that it would temporarily halt both TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, two of the most widely used trusted-traveler programs in the United States, so the department could focus “on the general traveling public.” But DHS quickly walked back the TSA PreCheck pause, saying it “will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations” according to staffing changes.

The move to halt the programs, which travelers pay for, swiftly drew criticism from Democrats and industry groups.

What does the shutdown mean for ICE and CBP?

Democrats do not have much power to actually restrict ICE and US Customs and Border Protection activities in this shutdown. ICE will still continue to operate its main functions, multiple congressional aides have contended.

Overall, more than 90% of DHS’ 272,000 employees will continue working during a lapse, according to the agency’s September shutdown plan covering the first five days of an impasse. More than 93% of ICE and CBP workers will remain on the job.

Only about 44,500 staffers will continue to be paid through other appropriations, according to the shutdown plan.

DHS has other resources to draw on, including a $165 billion infusion from last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which funneled $75 billion to ICE, alone, and $64 billion to CBP.

Paychecks for sworn law enforcement officers in ICE, CBP and the US Secret Service, as well as for US Coast Guard military personnel, are being funded by the “big, beautiful bill,” according to a senior administration official.

Other positions that work on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and border security priorities, such as technology specialists and attorneys, are also being paid through the president’s domestic policy package, the official said.

Outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said last fall that 70,000 law enforcement personnel, including in CBP, ICE and other divisions, would receive their paychecks.

But even those divisions will feel an impact. ICE and CBP could face delays in procurements, supplies and other support during the impasse, DHS noted in a statement shortly after the shutdown began.

How will the lapse in funding affect other agencies under DHS?

DHS is a sprawling agency that includes not only ICE, CBP and TSA, but also FEMA, the Coast Guard, Secret Service and other divisions.

Much of the agency’s workforce is focused on activities that protect life and property and is therefore considered essential. Activities that will continue include law enforcement operations, including those related to immigration and drug trafficking; passenger processing and cargo inspections at ports of entry; Disaster Relief Fund activities; and Secret Service functions.

“Because we know that the majority of staff right now would be required to work, it’s likely that the impacts would be minimally felt,” said Rachel Snyderman, managing director of the economic policy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “But as the duration of the shutdown continues, that’s where you start to see some issues with staff attrition.”

FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, which is not affected by the impasse, has about $9.6 billion available as of late February.

Still, the Trump administration has ordered FEMA to suspend the deployment of hundreds of aid workers to disaster-torn areas around the US during the shutdown, according to sources and internal messages obtained by CNN. The new edict comes even though most deployments are paid for through the Disaster Relief Fund and restricting FEMA travel was under discussion before the shutdown, CNN previously reported.

In last month’s statement, the agency acknowledged that it is “scaling back to bare-minimum, life-saving operations only.”

It will pause all non-essential activities and “focus exclusively on immediate disaster response where there is an active threat to life, public health, or safety.”

This includes only engaging in public assistance activities for new or recent disasters that need immediate emergency action. Public assistance for ongoing or previous disasters will not advance, the agency said.

DHS outlined in a statement earlier in February some of the impacts on its other functions. For instance, Coast Guard military families could have issues with housing and utilities since vendors won’t be paid for utilities, leases and base contracts. FEMA will be unable to process payments for non-disaster grants and certain disaster grants.

Will the IRS or other government agencies be affected?

DHS is the last federal agency lacking funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, which runs through September 30. Since the record-long shutdown ended in mid-November, lawmakers have passed a series of spending bills for the rest of the government.

That means all other areas of the federal government, including national parks and the Internal Revenue Service, remain open.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Aileen Graef, Manu Raju Lauren Fox, Gabe Cohen, Aaron Cooper, Alexandra Skores, Sarah Ferris and Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.