Legislative actions in the House
After passing the Senate, Speaker of House Mike Johnson said the House would not take up the bill until Monday, February 2, 2026 and pointed to House's requirement that text be available 72 hours before a vote. [16] [17] . As a result, Office of Management and Budget said they would begin shutdown procedures at midnight on Saturday, January 31, when funding ran out. [18]
Mike Johnson announced that Republicans would look to pass the bill through a suspension of the rules. In a regular rule vote, which is generally a party line vote, a small number of fiscally conservative Republicans upset at the deal could stop the bill's passage by voting down the procedural rule vote. Under suspension of the rules, a two-thirds majority is needed to pass bills (“fast-tracking”). This requires approximately 72 Democrats to vote with Republicans. However, on Saturday, January 31, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries informed Johnson that Democrats would not provide the votes to pass the bill under fast-track. As a result, the vote to end the shutdown was pushed to Tuesday, February 3. [19] [20]
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not yet endorsed the agreement. Democrat Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced his opposition to the package. Other Democrats, including Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, who both formerly were members of Democratic House leadership, and New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider, have endorsed the package. [21] Republicans Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Tim Burchett of Tennessee, fiscal conservatives, have threatened to oppose the bill if it was not coupled with legislation to require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. [22] [23] [21]
The first procedural step to pass the bill in the House occurred with a vote in the House Rules Committee on February 2, 2026. As a result of the January 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have enough votes in the Committee to stop the bill's passage if they so choose. Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, both Freedom Caucus members, did not say which way they plan to vote. [19]
Democrat Christian Menefee, who was elected in a special election on Saturday, January 31, was sworn in on Monday. This reduces the Republican majority in the House to 218–214, meaning that Republicans can only afford to lose one vote on party-line votes. [21]
After a meeting when the White House on Monday, Republicans Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett announced they would support the procedural rule vote after receiving assurances that the Senate would modify the fillibuster to pass legislation to require voter ID and prevent non-citizens from voting. [24] Though Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the next day, denied that the Senate had agreed to modify the fillibuster. [25] Later on Monday, House Rules Committee voted along party lines to advance the legislation to the House floor. [26]
Prior to the procedural rule vote, and after Senator Thune denied a fillibuster agreement was in place, Republican John Rose of Tennessee called on Republicans to "hold the line" and vote against the rule because it did not include the SAVE Act. [27] Initially, Rose would vote against the rule, along with Republican Thomas Massie, with all Democrats. Republicans Andy Ogles, Byron Donalds, Victoria Spartz and Troy Nehls withheld their votes and were seen talking to Republican House leadership on the floor. [28] However, after a 50 minute vote, all the Republican holdouts except Massie voted for the rule. [29]
On Tuesday, February 3, the House concurred with the Senate's amendment on the funding bill. The vote was 217–214 with 21 Republicans voting against and 21 Democrats voting for the bill with one Republican abstention. President Trump signed the bill the same day. [30] [20]
Effects
Agencies affected
Agencies affected by the shutdown include the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense (except functions listed below), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, and Homeland Security, as well as the Executive Office of the President, several independent agencies, and the Judicial Branch. [31]
Agencies not affected are the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, Justice, and Energy; some functions of Defense (water development activities of the Army Corps of Engineers and military construction); some independent agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and National Science Foundation; and the Legislative Branch. [32]
Specific effects
Despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency being shutdown, FEMA has about $7 billion to $8 billion left to respond to disaster and weather response, including the January 30–February 1, 2026 United States winter storm. However, other FEMA operations, like National Flood Insurance Program policies, shutdown. [33]
10,000 Federal Aviation Administration workers were furloughed as a result of the shutdown. In addition, air traffic controllers will continue to work, but without pay. [34]
About 8,000 of all 27,000 direct hire State Department employees were furloughed as a result of the shutdown. Essential State Department services, including passport and visa services, along with the operation of embassies and consulates will continue. Other services, such nonemergency consular notifications and website updates, were shut down. [33]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will use money appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act to avoid furloughs until February 7. [35]
