DHS Shutdown and Funding

The Department of Homeland Security has quietly begun ordering thousands of furloughed employees back to work amid a partial DHS shutdown, telling staff across components including FEMA and CISA to return to duty using “available funds” even as Congress debates how to fix the funding gap. Internal DHS messages obtained by reporters say hundreds of thousands of employees are being shifted into exempt or paid status; more than 35,000 workers have already received back pay under an April 3 presidential directive, but DHS warned those workers will not receive further pay until Congress resolves the impasse. The move comes as Senate Republicans, led by Sens. Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso and with explicit public backing from President Trump, push a narrow reconciliation strategy to fund ICE and CBP for the remainder of the presidential term — a plan they say will insulate border‑enforcement agencies from annual appropriations fights and address parts of DHS not covered by other stopgap measures.