NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you thought the Congressional appropriations process couldn\u2019t get any worse, I present you with 2026. And perhaps beyond.<\/p>\n The Department of Homeland Security remains shut down, running on pocket lint, nickels lost between the couch cushions and faded S&H Green Stamps (look \u2018em up, kids). Congress hasn\u2019t funded DHS for two months. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,<\/a> torqued himself into a political pretzel \u2013 opposing, then supporting, then not acting on \u2013 a Senate-approved package to fund most of DHS.<\/p>\n As we always say, it\u2019s about the math, and when it comes to DHS money, it appears that lawmakers have locked a box to which they lack the combination. There is apparently no sequence of votes in the House and Senate which can crack the DHS safe as a traditional, standalone appropriations bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHY TRUMP MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FORCE CONGRESS BACK OVER THE DHS SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. capitol building in Washington, D.C., (left); An Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officer arrives at a scene (right).<\/span> (Al Drago\/Bloomberg via Getty Images (left); Reuters (right))<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Now, Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump<\/a> are turning to one of the few methods which might work to fund DHS \u2013 something called budget reconciliation.<\/p>\n The Congressional budget reconciliation process is not customarily used for appropriations bills \u2013 although lawmakers can plug the measure with money to spend on federal programs. However, reconciliation is inoculated from filibusters. Thus, Republicans don\u2019t need 60 votes. They can \u2013 ostensibly \u2013 pass a DHS bill on its own without help from Democrats if they hold their narrow coalitions together in both the House and Senate.<\/p>\n Congressional Republicans intend to stuff this reconciliation package with only money for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. Nothing for disaster aid. Nothing for farmers. Nothing about the SAVE America Act. The president agrees. The goal is to finish this by June 1 \u2013 months after the latest DHS funding lapse.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s more complicated than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n GOP INFIGHTING REPLACES CLASH WITH DEMS, DERAILS PATH TO END HISTORIC DHS SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The House and Senate must take a number of steps to approve a shell of a budget resolution in order to have the filibuster-proof reconciliation tool available to them. Republicans undertook a similar endeavor last winter and spring. It was absolutely harrowing and consumed months before finally approving the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, via reconciliation. Republicans don\u2019t have that kind of time now. Then again, DHS has either been unfunded or held together by interim spending bills since last October.<\/p>\n We haven\u2019t even mentioned how Trump is using a somewhat dubious authority to pay TSA workers<\/a> and others from other funds \u2013 without Congressional approval.<\/p>\n Travelers experienced extensive wait times Sunday, March 22, 2026, at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (left, middle) and Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (right) due to the partial government shutdown.<\/span> (WVUE)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That leaves some to question why the administration didn\u2019t do this to start with. But the bigger issue is an alarming pattern of Congress ceding its most precious prerogative \u2013 the power of the purse \u2013 to the executive branch. That\u2019s to say nothing as to whether Trump\u2019s gambit to pay workers is even Constitutional. And, it establishes a precedent which may be hard to ignore during other funding impasses.<\/p>\n However, here\u2019s the bigger problem: the Congressional paralysis to pass appropriations bills on a timely basis. That\u2019s been an issue for years now.<\/p>\n Historically, Congress has missed the Oct. 1 fiscal deadline, relying on “Continuing Resolutions” (CR\u2019s) which simply renew all funding on a temporary basis. Or, lawmakers cobble together a set of the 12 annual spending bills in a “minibus” appropriations package. Lawmakers who might oppose an individual bill are willing to support a group of bills \u2013 because there\u2019s something in there which they like or support.<\/p>\n But turning to reconciliation as a way out of the appropriations box canyon is also another precedent which likely agitates Congressional appropriators. Sure. They\u2019ve done that before. And in this instance, it might finally get DHS funded. But what does this mean for the future?<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that congressional Democrats got “zero” reforms in the DHS funding deal.\u00a0<\/span> (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Which brings us to Oct. 1, 2026. That\u2019s when the federal government pivots from Fiscal Year 2026 to start Fiscal Year 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congress has struggled to fund the federal government since early 2025, when it began work on appropriations bills for this year. The FY \u201926 funding crisis \u2013 which spawned the record-breaking, 43-day, government-wide shutdown<\/a> in the fall, another partial government shutdown last winter and the current DHS stalemate \u2013 has been an issue since lawmakers were working on bills for this cycle around this time LAST spring. So how pray tell is Congress going to avoid a shutdown THIS autumn for FY \u201927?<\/p>\n In fact, few are even speaking about that possible peril \u2013 because no one can wrap their heads around the present appropriations saga. And it\u2019s possible that this fall\u2019s problems could be worse than last fall\u2019s impasse. The reason? The midterm elections hit in November. It\u2019s doubtful that either side will be willing to make much of a deal right before voters head to the polls.<\/p>\n The scenarios are frightening to fathom, so people are just kind of ignoring them.<\/p>\n SEE IT: LAWMAKERS CAUGHT ON VACATION AMID RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN WHILE DHS WORKERS GO UNPAID<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n We have entered a new period of semi-perpetual funding standoffs \u2013 exacerbated by mistrust between the sides, narrow Congressional margins in both the House and Senate, parliamentary mathematical equations which don\u2019t balance and an unwillingness by Trump to broker deals or even negotiate with Democrats.<\/p>\n Yes. They have options to cover DHS into next year, but it\u2019s the other 11 spending bills which could be problematic.<\/p>\n Imagine trying to pass a defense spending bill which has a price tag 44% higher than the one last year? Or tacks a bunch of money on for the war in Iran?<\/p>\n Where\u2019s the vote combination to approve a CR, let alone an individual bill? Will Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,<\/a> be willing to help Republicans hit the 60 vote threshold to fund things? Especially if he sees the possibility of emerging again as Majority Leader? Probably not.<\/p>\n Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats aren’t backing down from their list of DHS demands as the partial government shutdown rages on.<\/span> (Graeme Sloan\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And let\u2019s say Democrats win the House, Senate or both in the fall? Do you really think these spending standoffs get better over the final two years of Trump\u2019s term?<\/p>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1200\/675\/capitol-building-and-ice-officer.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
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