The Department of Homeland Security entered a second week of a funding lapse after Congress failed to extend DHS appropriations ahead of the Feb. 13 deadline, leaving many DHS operations and employees operating under shutdown rules, according to NARFE.
- Deadline missed: DHS funding lapsed after Congress did not pass a measure to extend funding by Feb. 13, NARFE reported.
- Second week underway: The lapse continued into a second week as of Feb. 24, according to NARFE.
- Workforce impact: A shutdown typically divides employees into “excepted” staff who must keep working and “non-excepted” staff who are furloughed; NARFE said the ongoing lapse raises workforce and mission impacts across DHS.
- Mission continuity pressures: DHS components tied to national security and public safety often continue operating during a lapse, but support functions may be curtailed, increasing backlogs and administrative delays, NARFE reported.
- Pay uncertainty: During a lapse, many employees may work without immediate pay until Congress acts; NARFE emphasized the operational and workforce strain created by prolonged uncertainty.
- Congressional action required: Funding resumes only after Congress passes and the president signs appropriations or a continuing resolution covering DHS, NARFE noted.
Brief context: DHS is funded through annual appropriations. When those appropriations expire without a continuing resolution or full-year bill, the department must follow shutdown procedures under the Antideficiency Act, including furloughing non-excepted employees and maintaining only those activities permitted to continue. NARFE’s report underscored that the longer the lapse persists, the more likely DHS employees and contractors are to see disrupted schedules, delayed administrative processing, and compounding workload once normal operations resume.
For federal employees trying to understand shutdown rules and what “excepted” status generally means across agencies, see FedBrief’s shutdown policy explainer (fedbrief.org).
Source: NARFE News, “Homeland Security shutdown continues,” published Feb. 24, 2026. https://www.narfe.org/blog/2026/02/24/homeland-security-shutdown-continues/