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The federal government partially shut down at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on January 31, 2026, after funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed when Senate Democrats refused to back the DHS bill as it was written. Hardworking Americans will feel the effects of this political standoff while career public servants, border agents, and vulnerable communities wait to see if Congress can put safety before spectacle.
Senate Democrats say they staged the holdout to demand immediate changes to how federal immigration agents operate after the tragic killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier in January. The calls to “rein in ICE” and impose new rules came amid genuine public outrage, but Democrats chose a scorched-earth approach that risks national security rather than working a sober fix through regular order.
Republicans fought to keep the rest of government funded and pushed a compromise to carve DHS out and pass the other appropriations measures, a practical move that tried to protect essential services from partisan brinksmanship. Yet because the House was out of session and procedural delays persisted, that temporary fix didn’t prevent the funding lapse — a predictable result when one side treats negotiations as a press briefing instead of governance.
Let’s be honest: voters sent Republicans to stop chaos at the border and keep federal services running, not to watch Democrats hold the whole country hostage to a messaging campaign. Conservatives believe in accountability for federal agents when wrongdoing occurs, but we also believe in supporting the men and women who secure our borders and enforce the law while Congress crafts thoughtful reforms — not theatrical ultimatums that leave the public hanging.
Meanwhile, the news media’s own unraveling reached a new low when former CNN anchor Don Lemon livestreamed an anti-ICE protest inside Cities Church in St. Paul on January 18 and was later taken into federal custody by agents in Los Angeles on January 29. Lemon insists he was reporting, but videos and court filings show a blurred line between journalism and activism — and ordinary Americans are rightly alarmed when journalists become part of the story.
Predictably, press freedom groups loudly condemned the arrests, painting federal action as a liberty-crushing crackdown while glossing over the fact that the protest took place during religious services and crossed legal lines for many observers. Conservatives defend the First Amendment fiercely, but defending speech is not the same as endorsing disruption of worship or turning reporting into mob leadership, and the double standard from coastal elites is obvious.
This moment exposes a wider hypocrisy: Democrats demand that ICE be neutered for political gain while cheering when media figures physically join protests that intimidate worshippers and communities. If we value both security and civil liberties, we must reject both the lawlessness of radical activists and the cynical posturing of politicians who would rather score headlines than secure the nation.
Congress must finish the work of funding the people’s government without letting either media stunts or partisan grandstanding dictate policy. Lawmakers on both sides should return, pass a clean continuing resolution for DHS, and then negotiate real, enforceable reforms that preserve public safety, protect worship, and restore confidence in our institutions — because America’s priority must always be the security and prosperity of its citizens.
