Post #5015

📰 US Government Agencies Shut Down as Trump Deal Awaits House Vote The U.S. government has slipped into a partial shutdown, with several major departments, including Defense, Treasury and Homeland Security, formally shutting down as Congress waits for the House to act on a funding deal negotiated by President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats. The House is on recess and is not expected to vote on the deal until Monday, trapping the government in a technical shutdown that began at midnight Friday. The crisis stems from a Democratic revolt over the deaths of two U.S. citizens in confrontations with Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. Senate Democrats refused to pass a sprawling funding bill unless it included new constraints on immigration enforcement, including body cameras, judicial warrants, unmasking of agents, and a ban on mass sweeps. Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer then struck a deal to fund the rest of the government through September, while giving Homeland Security only two weeks of temporary funding to keep talks on reforms going. The Senate passed that compromise on Friday, but the House cannot vote until it returns Monday, leaving dozens of agencies furloughing non‑essential staff and halting non‑critical services. Who’s shut, who’s working Affected agencies are furloughing non‑essential staff and halting non‑critical services, while “excepted” employees (military, air traffic controllers, TSA, border and immigration enforcement, most cops, the president, Supreme Court, and most federal judges) keep working, though they may not get paid until funding is restored. Key agencies that are already fully funded for the year and are not affected include the Department of Agriculture (SNAP/food stamps), Veterans Affairs, the Justice Department, and National Parks, which means benefits and many court and park services continue without interruption. The Office of Management and Budget (Brooke Rollins’s shop) issued a memo telling agencies to execute shutdown procedures, but it stressed that the Administration hopes “this lapse will be short” and will be ready to restart operations as soon as Trump signs a bill into law. How long it will last The Administration and many lawmakers expect the shutdown to last no more than a few days, ending as soon as the House votes on Monday. If the House passes the deal early Monday, federal agencies could resume normal operations that same day, limiting the visible disruption to the public and the economy. But the real drama is in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson must navigate a narrow Republican majority and a rebellious conservative flank resistant to the short‑term DHS funding, while Democrats demand that the eventual long‑term deal change the rules for immigration enforcement. On the surface, the shutdown is a narrow procedural gap, but politically it’s a classic Washington theater (kabuki): Democrats weaponizing DHS funding to force changes in how Trump’s immigration crackdown is run, while Republicans warn that more shutdowns lie ahead if Democrats try this again. Behind the noise, the question is simple: who blinks first, and who gets blamed if the lights truly go out at the IRS, VA, TSA, and courts beyond the weekend? #USGovernmentShutdown#Trump2026#Congress#Democrats#Republicans#DHS#Budget2026 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸