A partial government shutdown took effect Jan. 31 after Congress failed to meet a midnight deadline Jan. 30 to pass a revised funding package.
Although the Senate voted 71-29 late Jan. 30 to pass the revised package, the measure still must clear the House and reach President Donald Trump’s desk. With the House not scheduled to return until Feb. 2, the shutdown is expected to last through the weekend. The funding lapse affects large portions of the federal government.
The House Rules Committee will meet Feb. 1 to prepare the revised package for a House vote early next week, The Hill reported. The funding package is widely expected to pass the House and be signed by President Trump early next week.
The package includes appropriations bills to fund five agencies, including HHS, through Sept. 30. It also includes a two-week stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been a key sticking point holding up negotiations.
Three things to know:
1. Shutdown disrupts hospital at home. The legislative package includes key healthcare provisions backed by hospital and provider groups, including an extension of pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities through 2027. It also extends the waiver for CMS’ hospital-at-home program through 2023.
In the meantime, the partial shutdown has disrupted hospital-at-home programs, as even temporary waiver lapses require hospitals to pause services to remain in compliance with federal rules.
“It takes weeks to plan for a shutdown and weeks to turn the program back on,” Constantinos “Taki” Michaelidis, MD, medical director of UMass Memorial Health’s Hospital at Home program, told Becker’s. “With Hospital at Home, when we lose the waiver, if we still have patients with us, it becomes a compliance issue. We would be in violation of Medicare Conditions of Participation if a patient is still on service at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning [Jan. 31].”
2. HHS braces for furloughs, service cuts. HHS’ fiscal 2026 contingency plan for a total government shutdown includes furloughing 41% of staff, or 32,460 employees. Becker’s has contacted HHS about its partial shutdown plan and what the closure means and will update this story should more information become available.
Essential services such as Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare fraud investigations, CDC disease monitoring, pandemic response, the National Institutes of Health research and clinical work and FDA drug reviews will all remain operational under any government shutdown. However, functions that are halted include research grant oversight, data collection, public records requests, CDC health communications, NIH patient admissions, except in medically necessary situations, and CMS contractor oversight.
3. DHS funding faces holdup. The House initially passed a six-bill funding package Jan. 22. The deal was widely expected to advance through the Senate. However, momentum stalled after federal immigration agents fatally shot 37-year-old registered nurse Alex Pretty in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. In response, Senate Democrats said they would move DHS funding forward without reforms to immigration enforcement operations. The impasse prompted Democrats to push for separating DHS funding from the broader package. Lawmakers eventually agreed to move forward on a revised deal that funds five agencies through Sept. 30 and provides a two-week extension for DHS.
Editor’s note: Naomi Diaz contributed to this report.
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