The Senate has departed Washington without a deal to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded past Friday, setting the stage for another partial government shutdown and underscoring the deepening political trench warfare over immigration enforcement.

With negotiations stalled, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned lawmakers to stay within reach, ready to return to Capitol Hill on short notice. Few senators, however, expect a breakthrough anytime soon.

The breakdown was laid bare Thursday when Sen. John Fetterman became the lone Democrat to vote to advance a full-year DHS funding bill — only to watch his party block it anyway.

“What’s the Democratic off-ramp on this?” Fetterman asked bluntly afterward. “ICE already has all the money it needs. Where’s our leverage?”

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by Donald Trump last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection received tens of billions of dollars in advance funding, insulating them from the immediate effects of a shutdown.

Other agencies are not so protected.

“Shutting DHS down has zero impact on ICE,” Fetterman warned. “But it will hit FEMA, the Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency.”

If funding expires at midnight Saturday, more than 260,000 DHS employees could face furloughs or unpaid work. The Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service, Coast Guard and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are all expected to see “limited” operations, according to appropriators.

A Democratic senator speaking anonymously to The Hill described the situation as a symptom of total institutional breakdown.

“Everybody hates everybody,” the lawmaker said. “It’s metal-on-metal politics now.”

With midterm elections looming, few lawmakers believe another shutdown will change voter behavior — weakening incentives to compromise.

The impasse centers on demands to rein in ICE following the deadly shootings of protesters in Minneapolis, which have inflamed Democratic donors and activists.

The Senate adjourned shortly after Thursday’s funding vote failed 52–47, largely along party lines. Democrats also blocked a two-week stopgap extension. Within hours, senators scattered — many rushing to flights for the Munich Security Conference and overseas meetings.

The chamber is not scheduled to vote again until Feb. 23.

Thune insists he will summon lawmakers back if a deal emerges.

“I think the deal space is there,” he said. “If people are operating in good faith.”

Schumer disagreed.

“Their proposal is not serious,” he said. “It’s very far apart from what we need.”

Asked what he would tell federal workers facing furloughs or unpaid labor, Schumer replied: “Talk to the Republicans. We’re ready to fund everything.”

The looming lapse would mark the second partial shutdown this month. Earlier in February, the Office of Management and Budget ordered agencies to begin shutdown preparations after Congress missed a Jan. 30 deadline. A temporary deal pushed the clock to Feb. 13, but little progress has followed.

Republicans argue Democrats are engineering the standoff to satisfy their base, even after Trump border czar Tom Homan announced an end to enforcement surges in Minnesota.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)