According to reports, on February 10, the United States, which just experienced a 43-day federal government shutdown last fall, faced another 4-day short shutdown a week ago. Now, another shutdown seems likely to occur.
The latest shutdown appears very probable because Democrats and Republicans in Washington still have differences over potential reforms to the immigration enforcement practices of the Trump administration.
The closure from January 31 to February 3 ended thanks to a bipartisan spending plan that provided only two weeks of funding for the department managing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while negotiations on reforms continue. This stopgap funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will last until Friday, meaning that the funding gap for DHS will begin early Saturday morning local time.
Negotiations have not yet made a breakthrough, so Washington is preparing for another shutdown, although this will certainly be a partial shutdown, as only the Department of Homeland Security will run out of funds. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is one of those expected to see a limited closure; this Democrat is known for sometimes allying with President Trump and other Republicans. He pointed out that his party proposed a 10-point plan, but it received a poor response.
"I absolutely expect the government to shut down. I know we—Democrats—offered about 10 basic proposals, and then Republicans quickly rejected them, saying it was like a Christmas wish list, not worth discussing," John Fetterman stated in an interview on Fox News last Sunday.
The prediction market Kalshi estimates a 65% chance of a shutdown in the U.S. this weekend, while Polymarket's percentage stands at 74%.
