Government Shutdown Part 3: They Failed Us Again!

Congress has once again allowed the government to slip into a partial shutdown. Lawmakers have failed to agree on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leaving approximately 272,000 employees affected. Let’s take a look.

What Is The Impact?

Although the shutdown is limited to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it still delivers major disruptions across travel, security, disaster response, and the livelihoods of federal workers. The services impacted now are:

• Transportation Security Administration (TSA): Approximately 95% of essential employees must work without pay. Again. The impact on air travelers is longer airport security lines and potential delays or checkpoint closures if staff shortages worsen.
• U.S. Coast Guard: About 56,000 personnel face delayed pay. Training and readiness activities may halt, which can erode mission capability.
• FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency): The shutdown will delay federal disaster reimbursements and slow several emergency response functions. FEMA employees deemed essential must work without pay. The shutdown will severely impact the response to the recent waste‑pipe failure.
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA): The shutdown sharply disrupts cybersecurity and infrastructure security operations and heightens national vulnerability throughout the lapse.
• Secret Service: The agency continues operating, but personnel may be unpaid and stretched thin.
• Federal Civilian Workforce: About 13% of the federal civilian workforce now feels the impact of the shutdown. Many employees are working without pay, while others are furloughed. The shutdown halts hiring, onboarding, training, and several benefits‑processing functions.

Services NOT Impacted By This Shutdown

This is where the insanity behind the shutdown becomes clear. 97% of the federal government is funded through September 30, 2026. DHS funding is stalled due to a standoff over immigration enforcement reforms:

• Immigration Enforcement (ICE & Border Patrol): ICE and CBP remain largely unaffected because of a massive funding boost from last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Their operations continue despite the DHS funding lapse.

The Demands on ICE

Congress has chosen to shut the government down to force changes to ICE protocols, even though ICE is already funded. Make no mistake, there must be changes made to ICE enforcement:

• There is a severe lack of dignity afforded to anyone involved in either side of the issue. The treatment of some deportees and protestors is not acceptable, and neither is the treatment of ICE officers trying to do their jobs. Politicians have fueled the fire with their rhetoric, and the result has been physical injury on both sides and loss of life.
• Many Democrats have called for body cameras, new use-of-force standards, and judicial warrants to enter private property. These seem like reasonable requirements:
  • DHS recently approved body cameras for its agents, but deployment will require appropriate funding.
  • Congress and DHS must define “Use-of-force” standards to prevent further injury and deaths.
  • ICE creates deportation orders, so the need to include a judge to enter private property makes sense.

Mask Requirements

Democrats are also requiring all federal officers to remove their masks. This is an area where officer safety is at risk. We have seen too many situations where people are doxxed, and the people and their families are threatened. Doxxing is the act of publicly revealing someone’s private or identifying information without their consent, usually with the intent to shame, intimidate, harass, or endanger them. This can only be approved with a mandatory prison sentence for anyone who doxxes a federal agent (or anyone for that matter).

Federal Law Compliance

Local authorities must transfer deportees to federal law enforcement while they are in custody. Federal authorities designed the system to function this way. This is the best way to ensure safety for all. If some city/state governments don’t like federal laws, they should elect people to change them. We don’t get to choose which laws we comply with and which laws we don’t.

Waste Pipe Failure

According to multiple reports, the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed on January 19, 2026, near the Clara Barton Parkway/C&O Canal area in Montgomery County, Maryland. The collapse of the Potomac Interceptor released over 200–300 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river. This is one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history. Researchers from the University of Maryland found Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA (antibiotic‑resistant staph), and E. coli levels 4,000–10,000 times above recreational safety standards. The shutdown doesn’t stop the engineering work — DC Water and state agencies continue repairs — but it does weaken the federal side of the response in several important ways:

• FEMA’s coordination role becomes slower and thinner: During a shutdown, FEMA operates with reduced administrative staff, relies heavily on unpaid essential workers, and faces slower procurement and contracting processes.
• Interagency coordination becomes more fragile.
• The recovery timeline is already strained, and the shutdown adds further delays. DC Water has stated repairs will take 4–6 weeks to stabilize the site, with subsequent reporting indicating up to 10 months for full restoration.
• Environmental monitoring and public‑health coordination depend on federal engagement.

The DHS shutdown does not stop the recovery from the Potomac waste‑pipe failure. Still, it slows FEMA’s coordination, reduces federal staffing and surge capacity, delays reimbursements and administrative support, and makes an already difficult recovery more fragile. This is a terrible time to shut down these critical services.

The Catholic View

In the Gospel, Jesus sees situations through the lenses of compassion for the vulnerable, truth‑telling about burdens, and a call to shared responsibility. This situation fails all three areas:

• We are all God’s children, regardless of our role or citizenship status. A shutdown that disrupts safety, delays disaster response, or leaves workers unpaid would fall squarely into that category of burdens He calls out.
• Jesus never shies away from naming reality:
  • He names when harm is happening.
  • He names when people are being overlooked.
  • He names when leaders avoid responsibility.
  • He would not frame the shutdown as an abstract political event. He would frame it as a moral reality with human consequences.
• A shutdown that slows disaster recovery, weakens security operations, or leaves workers unpaid would concern Him because it misaligns purpose. Systems meant to safeguard life are instead creating instability.

Jesus would view the shutdown through the eyes of those most affected. He would challenge the burdens it creates, hold leaders accountable, and urge the swift restoration of the systems people rely on for safety, livelihood, and dignity. His concern would not be political victory but the well‑being of the vulnerable and the integrity of the community.

Please share your thoughts about this article in the “Comments” section.

Peace

If you like this article, you might enjoy:

The China “Dependency” Challenge
764 Network: The Rise Of A Dangerous Online Threat
Living A Transformed Life