With little time and no deal in sight to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a partial government shutdown by midnight is all but guaranteed.

The battle to prevent the third government shutdown under President Donald Trump in less than six months was lost in the Senate on Thursday. Now, with Congress scattered across the U.S. and several senators headed abroad, there’s no chance that a shutdown will be averted.

Senate Republicans were unable to smash through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ unified front to pass a full-year DHS funding bill, nor were they able to do yet another short-term, two-week extension.

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«The idea of not even allowing us to have an extended amount of time to negotiate this suggests to me, at least, that there isn’t a high level of interest in actually solving this issue,» Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

The final fight on the floor Thursday wasn’t with every lawmaker present, but between Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., over giving lawmakers a little more time to keep the agency open while negotiations continue.

Senate Democrats argued that Republicans offered their legislative proposal in the dead of night, giving little time to actually move toward a compromise.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., failed to splinter Senate Democrats from their unified front in his bid to fund DHS for a full year. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

«We had plenty of time to get a deal in the last two weeks,» Murphy said. «And the lack of seriousness from the White House and from Republicans not getting language until last night has put us in the position we are in today.»

And with the expected shutdown, Democrats’ main targets — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — won’t see their cash flow dry up because of billions injected into the agency by Trump’s «big, beautiful bill.»

Instead, agencies like TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and several others will suffer the brunt of the shutdown.

«There is no way that you can’t say we’re working in good faith. We want to continue this conversation,» Britt said on the Senate floor. «But yet you’re penalizing a TSA agent. A TSA agent is going to go without a paycheck. Why? So that you can posture politically? I’m over it.»

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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Senate Democrats argued that Republicans gave them little time to reach a deal to fund DHS. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

«Everybody on that side of the aisle knows that ICE and CBP will continue to be funded,» she continued. «They’re going to continue to enforce the law just as they should. Who’s going to pay the price?»

The final floor argument was a microcosm of what the week had devolved into. Senate Republicans argued that Democrats had burned too much time producing their list of demands, while Senate Democrats contended that they weren’t given enough time by the White House.

And as is typical during the string of shutdowns in the last several months, it has devolved into a public blame game. When asked about the effects a shutdown would have on the agencies not involved in immigration enforcement, Schumer pointed the finger at the GOP and the White House.

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«Talk to the Republicans, OK? We’re ready to fund everything,» Schumer said. «We’re ready to have good, serious proposals supported by the American people. They’re not; they’re sort of dug in the ground, and they’re not moving forward.»

But neither side is willing to divulge publicly what the exact sticking points are in their ongoing negotiations. And Senate Democrats now appear to be considering a counteroffer to the White House, a sign that negotiations aren’t totally dead in the water.

«Negotiations will continue, and we will see in the course of the next few days how serious they are,» Thune said.

Thousands of anti-government protesters violently faced off against riot police outside government buildings in Albania’s capital, Tirana, earlier this week, as people called for the resignation of the government following a massive corruption scandal.

The main Albanian opposition party called for people to take to the streets and demand the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku after she was indicted by a special prosecutor who alleged she had been improperly influenced in her decision to favor one company in a tender for the construction of a 3.7-mile tunnel in southern Albania.

Albania’s Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime suspended Balluku from the government in November, but Prime Minister Edi Rama took the issue to the country’s Constitutional Court, which reinstated Balluku in December.

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Balluku denied the allegations, calling the accusations against her amounted to «mudslinging, insinuations, half-truths and lies.» Rama has refused to dismiss her.

The corruption allegations touched off widespread outrage, sparking protests in recent months. 

«The wave of popular protests in Albania reflects a growing societal backlash against what critics describe as the increasingly autocratic rule of Prime Minister Edi Rama,» Agim Nesho, former Albanian ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, told Fox News Digital.

«Over more than a decade in power, Rama is accused of centralizing authority and personalizing state institutions, while his government has faced persistent allegations of cooperation with organized crime and the misuse of public funds and public assets for the benefit of politically connected clients,» Nesho claimed.

Police officers hold shields outside the Prime Minister’s office during an anti-government protest, triggered by a corruption investigation into Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, in Tirana, Albania, Feb. 10, 2026. (Florion Goga/Reuters)

The shady circumstances surrounding Rama’s most important ally and the lack of accountability reinforces the sentiment that is pervasive in Albanian society that their government is rife with corruption. With both the incumbent government and opposition figures accused of corruption, public confidence in institutions and the justice system has steadily been eroded.

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Albania has a long legacy of government corruption and ranks 91st out of 182 countries in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The protests on Tuesday turned violent when supporters of Berisha’s opposition Democratic Party threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at government offices in Tirana. Security forces responded with water cannons and tear gas.

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama (R) and Deputy Prime Minister of Albania and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku (R) attend a press conference in the Shpirag region in Berat province, Albania on Aug. 23, 2023. (Albanian Prime Ministry / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Berisha claims the protests have been peaceful, and people are only voicing their opposition to Rama’s increasing autocratic rule and his attacks of the justice system.

At least 16 protesters were treated for injuries and 13 protesters were arrested, according to The Associated Press. 

Observers of the region believe Berisha, who was prime minister from 2005 to 2013 and faced his own corruption charges, is angling to topple the socialist prime minister and main political rival, Rama, and return to power.

The turmoil in Albania comes as the country has long sought European Union membership, which began in 2014 when it became an official candidate for accession. While the 2025 annual European Commission report stated that Albania made significant strides in judicial reforms and combating organized crime, the latest allegations against Rami’s government will complicate its path to EU membership.

People gather during a demonstration held in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in support of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who was under house arrest from December 2023 to November 2024 on corruption charges and is currently under judicial supervision by the Albanian Special Appeal Court for Corruption and Organized Crime (GJPAKKO). (Olsi Shehu/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The United States helped implement Albania’s judicial reform process, including the creation of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK). The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) invested millions to foster democratic progress in Albania and assisted in combating Albania’s struggles with corruption and strengthening its weak institutions.

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Nesho warned the U.S. and European Union need to get serious with policy in the Western Balkans and help move Albania closer to European integration.

«If Washington and Brussels continue to look the other way — failing to enforce the rule of law, restore real checks and balances, and cut the regime’s ties to organized crime and drug trafficking — Albania risks drifting into the orbit of Eastern-style autocracy,» Nesho said.

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Una publicación de la cuenta de redes sociales de la madre de Van Rootselaar en la que se muestran las armas de la familia.

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