by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:35 AM ET, Sat February 14, 2026
As of midnight on Saturday, February 14, the U.S. federal government is once again in a partial shutdown—so how might this new shutdown impact travel?
The government had a two-week period for the House and the Senate to agree on a new funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, which Democrats are demanding follow stricter rules for ICE agents aligned with other law enforcement agencies, including proper identification.
According to the BBC, the Senate was unable to make the deal, with Democrats demanding a ban on agents wearing masks, better identification for officers, a return to requiring judicial warrants to enter residences as aligned with the Fourth Amendment, and greater transparency at ICE facilities.
On Thursday, the Democrats in the Senate had blocked two funding bills because they did not carry the reforms they requested.
The issue has been ongoing since late January, when Democrats, spurred by the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretty in Minneapolis by ICE agents, refused to fund the DHS unless reforms were made.
The government went into a partial shutdown for one weekend on January 31, and a two-week period was decided for Republicans and Democrats to discuss any necessary changes.
Now, several travel groups, including Airlines for America are warning that this new partial government shutdown might impact travel, as Congress is expected to take a two-week break through February 23, potentially prolonging a shutdown.
“As yet another government shutdown looms, so does one of the busiest travel times of the year—spring break," reads the letter. "Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights. We commend all TSA employees, especially the frontline workforce, who continued to serve the traveling public during the 43-day shutdown last year."
While the partial shutdown will only affect some of the Department of Homeland Security, and not the FAA or air traffic controllers, which operate under the FAA, the U.S. Coast Guard personnel and Transportation Security Administration personnel will be going without pay yet again for the foreseeable future, potentially causing delays and snarling air travel the longer the shutdown drags on.
The last government shutdown cost the travel industry over $6 billion and lasted a historic 43 days, during which thousands of TSA and air traffic control workers worked without pay. Air travel was so beleaguered by the shutdown as it wore on that the FAA began reducing flights at major airports in a first for the nation.
Lawmakers could be recalled to Washington if the two sides reach a deal, however, potentially ending the partial shutdown earlier than February 23.
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