DHS Drags On

No End in Sight for DHS Shutdown

The DHS shutdown enters its second week tonight with no end in sight. Tuesday night will serve as a clear visual metaphor for the distance between the negotiating parties as President Trump gives the State of the Union address to a sparse audience with many Democratic lawmakers boycotting the event. Democrats have clear polling data to show the American people support reforms to immigration-enforcement agencies, while Republicans seem content to stand behind the President’s posture of refusing any reforms.

The next major inflection point may occur when paychecks for DHS employees (notably not ICE) take a hit. According to the pay schedule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which serves as payroll processor for DHS, employees affected by the shutdown will receive roughly half-pay on March 5 (for the pay period covering the week before and the week after the shutdown) and then miss pay entirely on March 19.

For President’s Budget Request – Just Wait Longer

Something to watch for in the State of the Union will be whether the President describes his forthcoming budget request for Fiscal Year 2027. 

While law requires that the President submit his budget request for the forthcoming fiscal year on the first Monday in February, that deadline has often been missed without consequence, and reports had indicated we could see the President’s budget as soon as early March. Now, rumors are circulating on the Hill that we may not see the budget request until early April.

Among the hotly anticipated items will be the President’s request for defense spending after saying that he plans to ask for a 50 percent increase – to $1.5 trillion – for the military. Given the build up of military personnel and ships in the Middle East, it would seem hard to frame that size of a spending request without a war context. Congressional appropriators, especially in the Senate, will want to see a commensurate increase to non-defense discretionary spending if any boost to the military is being considered.