Congress impasse set to trigger US shutdown

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AFP

February 14, 2026

Less than a minute read

Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (L), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and John Cornyn (R-TX), speak after the Senate voted to override U.S. President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill that would allow lawsuits against Saudi Arabia’s government over the Sept. 11 attacks, on Capitol Hill. PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON:

A prolonged impasse between US lawmakers over immigration enforcement threatens to ensnare the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a partial government shutdown beginning Saturday, following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis.

“For weeks, we’ve been pushing commonsense reforms,” Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled Senate, said ahead of a partial shutdown that would go into effect after midnight on Friday night.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt put the blame on the opposition telling Fox News that “Democrats are barreling our government towards another shutdown for political and partisan reasons.”