❓WHAT HAPPENED: The U.S. government is heading toward a partial shutdown after a Senate vote on a funding deal stalled.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), President Donald J. Trump, and members of Congress.
📍WHEN & WHERE: January 29 and 30, 2026, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This is a bad deal.” – Sen. Lindsey Graham
🎯IMPACT: A partial shutdown of federal operations is expected to begin at 12:01 AM. ET Saturday without a funding deal.
The U.S. government is on the verge of a partial shutdown after the Senate’s planned vote on a funding deal stalled late Thursday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and other Republican leaders had aimed to push the deal forward, but it faced opposition within their own ranks over what Republican senators characterize as leadership caving to Democrats on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) confirmed he placed a hold on the funding package, effectively blocking it from quick consideration. Graham expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal, stating, “This is a bad deal,” as he entered Thune’s office late Thursday evening.
Late Thursday, just before the Senate attempted to move the Democrat-backed funding deal, President Donald J. Trump pushed for lawmakers to vote for the appropriations package. “America is setting Records in every way, and our Growth Numbers are among the best ever. The only thing that can slow our Country down is another long and damaging Government Shutdown,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, continuing, “Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before). Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”
It is believed that Sen. Graham‘s hold specifically stems from a provision passed by the House that removed legislative language allowing senators to sue for up to $500,000 if their phone records were obtained by former special counsel Jack Smith during the former Biden government’s Arctic Frost scandal.
Without a funding agreement, a partial shutdown of federal operations is set to begin at 12:01 AM ET on Saturday. Even if the Senate reaches an agreement on Friday, the House of Representatives is not scheduled to return until Monday, though Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has indicated he may be able to bring the House into session late Sunday if necessary.
A number of conservative members of the Senate have expressed opposition to the DHS funding deal, arguing it surrenders leverage and will likely result in a number of Democrat policy victories that could effectively gut U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—including a requirement for agents to obtain a judicial warrant rather than an administrative warrant in order to arrest migrants with outstanding removal orders.
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