The country’s airlines and military personnel may once again bear the brunt. government shutdown Lawmakers remain deadlocked over how to avoid a Feb. 1 government shutdown.

On Thursday, Democrats abandoned a bipartisan agreement to fund the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Education, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Health and Human Services. This means services in these areas may be limited or suspended entirely due to a lack of funding.

This could be a small repeat of October’s 43-day shutdown over Democratic health care demands. This time, the scope of the payments crisis will be smaller.

Homeland Security agents on duty in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)

While employees in the Legislative, Justice, Interior and other departments are expected to continue receiving paychecks, the failure of the defense bill still threatens military paychecks.

“Too often, our hardworking men and women — especially those in armed forces – whose livelihoods have been affected by congressional political shenanigans due to disagreements on unrelated issues,” Rep. Scott DesJarales, R-Tenn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Thursday.

His idea was echoed by another committee member, Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.

“Our military members have already been through the Schumer-created government shutdown and should not have to go through another one,” Scott said.

As with the last shutdown, the funding impasse threatens airport employees who work for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as part of the Department of Homeland Security package. In October, weeks without a paycheck forced flight delays and cancellations as employees required to ensure flight safety, such as air traffic controllers, began looking for side jobs and other sources of income.

Alaska Rep. Nick Begich is particularly concerned about repeated travel delays, saying his constituents could be particularly hurt during a season when the state is particularly reliant on imports.

Alaska Rep. Nicholas Begich (right) photographed near the Anchorage Airport. (Michael Siluk/Getty; Bill Clark/Getty)

“Our state relies on aviation for nearly everything, and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world,” Begich said. “A glitch anywhere in the system due to the government shutdown could mean a family in Utqiagvik misses an important medical appointment in Anchorage, or that food and cargo deliveries to remote communities are delayed for days.”

“Disruptions caused by shutdowns and staffing shortages raise real safety concerns in Alaska, especially during the winter,” he added.

In addition to transportation and military pay, a second shutdown could also impact Medicaid and Medicare government services. With funding in the Department of Health and Human Services bill at risk, the country could experience similar bottlenecks in access to health care for low-income people, people with disabilities and the elderly.

When asked about these potential closures, Sen. Jack Reed said voters should take note.

“I think people should weigh the consequences administration,” Reed said.

Democrats’ DHS shutdown threat to hit FEMA and TSA as immigration funding remains unchanged

The War Department declined to comment on when service members will receive their next paycheck or whether they believe there may be a risk of being delivered on time.

On January 14, 2026, federal agents arrested a man on Lake Street in Minneapolis. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Four spending bills fell flat in the Senate on Thursday, with Senate Democrats and seven Senate Republicans scuttling procedural votes needed to advance the bills.

Legislators stay in office Assigned to the Department of Homeland Security Wrapped.

The legislation does not impose key requirements Democrats raised concerns Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

Key senator won’t fund DHS when ICE and federal agents come into his state

follow Alex Pretty was shot Earlier this month, it was the second deadly clash in January between immigration authorities and civilians. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats said they would condition their support on tightening ICE’s search warrant requirements, an end to patrol patrols, requiring ICE to cooperate with state and local law enforcement, a uniform code of conduct, a no-mask policy and body-worn camera requirements.

Senate Republicans are currently working to overcome the obstacles they have erected within their own ranks. A minority of Senate Republicans are frustrated by the nature of the compromise deal struck by Trump and Schumer, the billions of dollars in earmarks that came with the original package and the repeal of a provision that would have allowed senators to sue for $500,000 in damages after being subpoenaed by former special counsel Jack Smith as part of the Arctic Frost investigation.

New York State Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York State House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hold a joint press conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 8, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

The upper house hopes to complete work on the new package on Friday evening and send the revised package to the lower house.

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DesJales said he believes Democrats can continue to push for the changes they want to see without putting parts of the government at risk.

“It should stop,” Desjarlais said of the political impasse. “Democrats have many other ways to achieve their policy goals than just employing tactics aimed at posting content on social media profiles.”