Republican fears that the US budget system is no longer fit for purpose under Donald Trump have intensified in Washington, where GOP senators spent this week in the Capitol scrambling to end a two‑month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and warning that Democrats could force even broader government closures later this year.
The immediate crisis centres on the partial shutdown of Homeland Security, which has already become the longest in the department's history, surpassing last autumn's 43‑day federal shutdown driven by a separate fight over healthcare subsidies. This time, the flashpoint is immigration enforcement. Democrats have resisted long‑term funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol while Trump is in the White House, and Republicans now concede they are braced for another showdown in September, just weeks before Americans vote.
