Partial Shutdown; Congress Asserts Itself a Little

DHS Shutdown

As expected, the parties in the Senate could not come to an agreement on DHS funding and now the agency will be shut down. Sort of.

So much money was appropriated for DHS, and ICE and CBP specifically, in last year's reconciliation bill, that DHS could continue to operate with little or no interruption. Other parts of DHS like FEMA and the TSA might face operational cuts or shutdowns.

You might think that only ICE and CBP could operate without interruption, but as this Wall Street Journal article notes, DHS Secretary Noem has a pretty freewheeling approach to how to spend the agency's money.

The article also notes Noem's antipathy towards FEMA which suggests that that sub-agency of DHS would receive no special help while new funding is unavailable.

Could Congress appropriate funds for FY2026 all of DHS except for ICE & CBP? Sure. Rep. DeLauro (D-CT3) proposed exactly that this week. But so far her proposal has not garnered any interest.

If Congress took that route, ICE and CBP would still have, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), 750% more money than they had before the reconciliation bill passed.

Both chambers of Congress are out next week so no movement is expected until the week of February 23 at the absolute earliest.

Tariffs

Last year, Speaker Johnson (R-LA4) used a Rules Committee rule to block any votes in the House that would object to the President's use of tariffs. Well, that rule ended this week. When Johnson tried the maneuver again this week it failed 214-217. And that opened the door to the first of probably many successful votes against the President's vast new tariff structure.

Because the Senate would also have to agree to the resolution to end the tariffs and then the President would have to sign it, it's extremely unlikely that this vote will lead to an end to any tariffs. But it is one of the very few instances of the Republican majority not squashing an objection to something the President really wants and is thus notable.

DOJ Spying on Lawmakers Reviewing Epstein Files

Speaker Johnson has become something of a broken record whenever he's asked about some administration overstep into Congressional authority: he says he doesn't know anything about it and/or that it's probably fine. So it was a bit of a surprise this week when he had heard the news that the Department of Justice was spying on legislators' search histories during their reviews of Epstein files and said it was "inappropriate". Not exactly a robust defense of Congressional power, but a notable departure from his usual pattern.

House Passed a Few Other Bills

None of these bills are anywhere near becoming a law. They first have to pass the Senate.

• H.R. 1531: PROTECT Taiwan Act, which would make it the policy of the United States to prevent China from participating in certain international organizations if the President determines that Taiwan or the interests of the United States are being threatened, passed 395-2.
• H.R. 6644: Housing for the 21st Century Act, passed 390-9. This is a large bill with lots of parts, but the Bipartisan Policy Center has an explainer.
• H.R. 2189: Law-Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act, which would would amend the definition of firearm in the Gun Control Act of 1968 to exclude certain nonlethal projectile devices, passed 233-185.
• H.R. 3617: Securing America’s Critical Minerals Supply Act, which would direct the Department of Energy to assess vulnerabilities in critical energy resource supply chains, including critical minerals and rare earth elements, and develop strategies to address disruptions and over-reliance on adversarial nations (sponsor press release), passed 223-206.
• S. 1383: Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would enact a host of new requirements to register to vote, passed 218-213. This bill, despite originating in the Senate, still has to go back to the Senate for another vote because originally S. 1383 was about something totally different. The House substituted in new text about voting registrations, changed the bill name and now it has to go back to the Senate.
• H.R. 261: Undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025, which would prohibit the Secretary of Commerce from prohibiting, or requiring any permit or other authorization for, the installation, continued presence, operation, maintenance, repair, or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a national marine sanctuary if such activities have been authorized by a Federal or State agency, passed 218-212.

One New Law

• H.J.Res. 142: Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Temporary Amendment Act of 2025, which prohibits Washington, D.C. from opting out of tax cuts passed last year, passed 49-47. It goes next to the President for signing.