Partial US government shutdown throws Congress into turmoil again
The US Government experienced its second shutdown in four months on Saturday, as funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) halted, underscoring Washington’s growing partisanship and dysfunction.
But in an ironic twist, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, at the centre of the Congressional showdown, will continue to operate despite being part of DHS, given its independent source of funding. In an unprecedented move, US President Donald Trump’s administration has allocated at least US$75 billion over four years to ICE in addition to its US$10 billion base budget, allowing it to circumvent the usual budget process.
But it balked at Democrats’ other demands, including requirements that agents stop hiding their identities behind face masks, obtain judicial warrants before entering private property, and wear identification, a move critics say engenders a sense of impunity.
This shutdown follows on the heels of the longest such stoppage in US history, when the government ground to a halt last October and November for 43 days. That saw US fourth-quarter GDP decline by 1.5 percentage points and led to a “Day 20 crisis” when millions of low-income Americans went without food assistance.
Outcry after ICE killing of another US citizen
Outcry after ICE killing of another US citizen
Trump’s unprecedented support for ICE has turned it into the highest-funded US law enforcement agency, resulting in some 10,000 new officers and a huge expansion in detention facilities. Law enforcement experts say its excesses are the result of inadequate vetting or training, as the admiration has grown rapidly.