The U.S. government has entered a partial shutdown today, Saturday, after the funding deadline passed at midnight without Congress approving the budget for fiscal year 2026. The disruption is expected to be limited, as the House of Representatives is poised to act early next week to approve a deal backed by the Senate. The shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday (5:01 a.m. GMT), but it could end early next week when the House votes on the agreement. The Senate passed a spending package 71-29 with bipartisan support after it became unlikely that Congress would approve a deal to keep most agencies funded past the midnight deadline. However, a Republican leadership aide told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the House is not in session and is not expected to take up the measure until Monday. The Senate-approved deal was the result of an agreement between President Donald Trump and Democratic senators, who had refused to pass the Homeland Security budget until reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were implemented following the fatal shooting of two American citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The agreement was ultimately to approve five of the six sections of the bill, while the section related to Homeland Security will undergo further negotiations in the next two weeks. However, since the version passed by the Senate differs from the version previously passed by the House, it must be sent back to the House for a possible final approval. It is not certain that the House will accept the new version drafted by the Senate.
