Congress has left the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, without funding for nearly a month, and Democrats and Republicans are no closer to reaching a deal to end the partial shutdown.
Senators spent more than an hour Wednesday arguing over the path forward and lobbing criticism at one another on the Senate floor in a debate that turned into one of their most public displays of frustration yet.
But in the end, there was no resolution to the discord over immigration enforcement operations or how to fund the agency. The DHS shutdown that is threatening the government’s disaster relief fund is poised to continue indefinitely.
The impasse means FEMA’s coffers have only a few billion dollars left with no imminent plans for replenishment, leaving the agency and Americans across the country potentially vulnerable if a major disaster strikes. The administration already restricted disaster aid for longer-term rebuilding projects as its reserves have dwindled.
