• The Senate passed a funding package on Friday but stalled ICE funding, triggering a partial shutdown.
• The Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art remain open as the shutdown targets defense and DHS.
• Funding for the NEA and NEH was approved on time, insulating major cultural institutions from disruption.

The Senate passed a federal funding bill package on Friday, but temporarily blocked any additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), triggering another government shutdown. But unlike the shutdown that began in October, which lasted a record 43 days, this one won’t force the Smithsonian Institution or the National Gallery of Art to close—and it’s expected to be resolved quickly.

The House of Representatives initially approved the bipartisan spending package with the votes of seven Democrats, even after ICE shot and killed Renée Good, a mother of three, sparking nationwide protests. Then agents from United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shot and killed Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse. The second fatality of a U.S. citizen during Operation Metro Surge, ICE’s ongoing occupation of the Twin Cities, convinced Senate Democrats that they could not in good conscience continue funding ICE.

Recognizing that Democrats would not agree to pass the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), President Donald Trump agreed to give Congress another two weeks to come to an agreement on that portion of the spending package. The Senate approved the rest of the funding package about six hours before the midnight deadline on Friday. But the House of Representatives was not in session Friday, and could not vote to approve the edited legislation, forcing the government to close once again, albeit partially.

During the last shutdown, the National Gallery shut down right away, while the Smithsonian was able to stave off a closure until October 11 by tapping into unused funds from the previous year. When Congress finally reached a compromise to reopen the government, it was with a January 30 deadline to pass a funding agreement. Rather than drafting one large appropriations bill, Congress divided the legislation into three smaller packages.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a press conference following the passage of government funding bills, about the party’s demands before passing an additional bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images.

Two of those deals were approved on time, including funding for the Smithsonian as well as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). That means the nation’s museums are unaffected by this shutdown, which instead hits the Pentagon and health and transportation programs, as well as DHS. ICE agents are considered essential employees during a government shutdown, but their paychecks will be delayed until a funding agreement is reached.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, has provided a list of Democrat’s demands that ICE funding be contingent on the creation of a new agency code of conduct, including a ban on face coverings, requirements for body cameras and visible identification, and stricter use of warrants. Friday saw the art world join a nationwide general strike, with many participants demanding that Congress reject any increase to ICE funding—not just rush for reform—or shut down the agency outright.

But ICE stands to receive an additional $10 billion in the pending spending bill, on top of the $75 billion boost from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed on July 4. (That funding was made possible by massive cuts to American health care.) In 2024, ICE’s total budget was just $9.2 billion.