Secretary Mullin recalls DHS workforce using alternative funds during 59-day shutdown

On April 11, 2026, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered all furloughed DHS employees back to work, citing 31 U.S.C. Section 1301(a) as legal authority to fund operations without congressional appropriation. The recall included approximately 1,200 CISA employees—60% of its 2,000-person workforce. In a CBS News interview, Mullin described the provision as allowing DHS "a little bit of flexibility ... with the dollars that were set up to allow us to do stuff just like this."

Mullin pledged back pay through April 4, 2026, with paychecks distributed April 10-16. This payment covered nearly two months of lost wages for tens of thousands of federal employees. Executive authority funded the entire obligation rather than a new congressional appropriation. The move raised constitutional questions about whether the executive branch could unilaterally obligate federal funds without legislative approval.

The Antideficiency Act, enacted in 1870 and strengthened in 1884 and 1905, governs executive spending authority. Codified at 31 U.S.C. § 1341, it prohibits federal officials from making expenditures or creating obligations exceeding available appropriations unless authorized by law.

This provision implements Article One, Section 9's "power of the purse" requirement that only Congress may authorize federal spending. Violations carry criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment and substantial fines.

Mullin invoked 31 U.S.C. Section 1301(a), which states that appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which they were made except as otherwise provided by law. His interpretation stretched the statute's ordinary meaning: rather than deploying already-appropriated funds toward their original purpose, he used it to justify entirely new spending (federal payroll) that Congress had explicitly declined to fund.

Constitutional and budget law scholars questioned whether this violated the Antideficiency Act. The administration never formally published its legal basis, preventing public scrutiny or congressional challenge.

CISA operates as America's primary civilian cybersecurity defense institution, defending critical infrastructure—power grids, hospitals, water systems, financial networks, and election systems—against cyberattacks and state-sponsored threats. During the 56-day shutdown, approximately 1,200 of CISA's 2,000 employees (60%) were furloughed, leaving the agency at 38-40% capacity.

The agency halted vulnerability assessments, suspended simulation exercises and stakeholder trainings, and froze deployment of cybersecurity services and real-time threat guidance that federal agencies and state/local partners depend on. CISA delayed the final rule for the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act, suspended international cybersecurity engagements, cancelled assessments for critical infrastructure owners, and eliminated real-time threat warnings that state and local agencies rely upon.

The DHS shutdown began February 14, 2026, after Congress deadlocked over immigration enforcement policy. Democrats refused to pass DHS funding for ICE and CBP unless the agencies implemented reforms including mandatory body camera use, clear identification requirements, and safeguards against racial profiling—demands prompted by the January 2026 deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, who were shot by DHS immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Republicans, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson, declared these Democratic conditions non-starters and refused to fund DHS without preserving unfettered authority for ICE and CBP operations. When both chambers recessed February 12 without voting on a continuing resolution, the lapse became inevitable. Senate Republicans blocked more than a dozen funding bills to pay TSA agents, fund FEMA, and support cyber defense during the standoff. Trump told reporters he was "pretty much not happy" with any deal and demanded Republicans not negotiate without his SAVE America Act voting legislation.

On April 1, 2026, after 47 days of shutdown, Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader JTJohn Thune, and Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham announced a two-track plan to bypass Democrats entirely. Congress would fund most DHS components—including TSA, CBP officers, CISA, and Secret Service—through normal appropriations requiring 60 Senate votes. Republicans would simultaneously use budget reconciliation to fund ICE and Border Patrol separately, requiring only 51 votes and bypassing the Senate filibuster.

Trump backed the plan on Truth Social, calling for legislation by June 1 and writing that Republicans would fund ICE and Border Patrol "through a process that doesn't need Radical Left Democrat votes, and bypasses the Senate Filibuster." When Congress returned April 13, the two-track approach became the framework for ending the shutdown.

The 56-day DHS shutdown (February 14–April 11, 2026) became the longest department-specific appropriations lapse in U.S. history. By comparison, the 2018-2019 government shutdown lasted 35 days and affected the entire federal government. That shutdown cost an estimated $5 billion in economic impact and resulted in Trump declaring a national emergency to redirect Defense Department funds toward wall construction after Congress declined to appropriate the requested $5.7 billion.

The 1995-1996 Clinton-era shutdown lasted 21 days. The 56-day DHS shutdown exceeded all three previous major shutdowns in duration for the affected agency, suggesting department-specific funding lapses may pose greater endurance challenges than whole-of-government shutdowns where economic damage and political pressure force faster resolution.