The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been officially shut down since funding ran out at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, constraining agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and delaying key cybersecurity initiatives.
Although most DHS employees are classified as “excepted” and remain on duty without pay, the lapse in appropriations has forced CISA to scale back operations. According to the DHS website, during a lapse in funding, the department “may only continue ‘exempt’ activities such as law enforcement and maritime protection.”
“A lapse in funding would impede CISA’s ability to continue the good work,” Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA’s acting director, told lawmakers last week. “At CISA, a shutdown would degrade our capacity to provide timely and actionable guidance to help partners defend their networks.”
Gottumukkala said that more than a third of CISA’s employees would be required to continue working without pay “even when nation-state actors intensify efforts to exploit the systems that Americans rely on.”
He also said the funding lapse would delay CISA’s work to finalize a cyber incident reporting rule under the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act.
“The adverse effects of a shutdown are not just felt by our agency alone, but extend to the communities we serve,” Gottumukkala told Congress.
In addition to CISA, the shutdown affects the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, and other agencies within DHS.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn told lawmakers last week that a “shutdown halts our reforms and undermines the momentum that we, including all of you, have worked so hard to build together.”
“The impacts may not be seen tomorrow, but I assure you, we will feel the ripple effects for some time, delayed contracts, diminished hiring, [and] halted new programs will be the result,” Quinn said.
The shutdown comes after Congress failed to pass a bill to fund DHS before a stopgap measure lapsed.
While Congress funded all other federal agencies and departments through the end of fiscal year 2026 earlier this month, Democrats and Republicans agreed on a two-week funding agreement for DHS. Lawmakers remain divided over whether a DHS funding bill should include new policies to govern federal immigration enforcement operations.
The DHS shutdown is likely to last at least one week, as the Senate and House are on recess.