The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) is urging Congress and the administration to pass a bipartisan bill and enter “good-faith negotiations” to end a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown that has stretched beyond five weeks, forcing more than 100,000 DHS employees to continue working without pay, according to NARFE.
- Who is affected: More than 100,000 DHS employees are working without pay during the lapse in appropriations, NARFE said.
- How long: The DHS shutdown has lasted more than five weeks, according to NARFE’s March 24, 2026 statement.
- What NARFE is calling for: Passage of a bipartisan bill and good-faith negotiations between Congress and the administration to reopen DHS, NARFE said.
- Why it matters: NARFE warned the shutdown is harming federal employees and disrupting mission-critical public services performed across DHS components.
- Work status: NARFE said affected employees are being required to work without pay—reflecting the “excepted” status many DHS roles receive during shutdowns.
- Pay implications: NARFE’s statement highlighted the immediate financial strain on employees and families while pay is delayed. (Federal shutdown back pay is typically addressed by Congress; NARFE’s release focuses on ending the shutdown through legislation and negotiations.)
NARFE’s call comes as DHS operations remain constrained by a lapse in funding, with many employees continuing to report for duty despite missing paychecks. DHS includes agencies with major national security and public-facing missions, such as airport and transportation security functions, border and immigration enforcement, cybersecurity operations, and emergency management.
In its March 24 post, NARFE framed the shutdown as both a workforce and operational crisis, pressing lawmakers to move quickly on a bipartisan path to restore funding and stability. NARFE also emphasized the need for negotiations it described as “good faith,” signaling concern that political deadlock is prolonging the lapse and compounding impacts on employees.
For federal workers, shutdowns can create cascading problems beyond delayed salaries, including uncertainty around leave, child care, commuting costs, and credit or bill payments. For the broader federal workforce, protracted shutdowns can also increase attrition risk in hard-to-fill roles and complicate staffing and labor-management relations. (For general background on shutdown-related pay and workforce impacts, see FedBrief’s policy explainers: https://fedbrief.org/.)
Source Attribution: NARFE News, “NARFE urges passage of bipartisan bill, good-faith negotiations on homeland security to end DHS shutdown” (March 24, 2026): https://www.narfe.org/blog/2026/03/24/narfe-urges-passage-of-bipartisan-bill-good-faith-negotiations-on-homeland-security-to-end-dhs-shutdown/