WASHINGTON (AP) — The partial government shutdown that started Saturday is vastly different from the record closure in the fall.
That is mostly because the shutdown may not last long.
The House will try to pass funding legislation quickly when lawmakers return Monday, and that would end the shutdown. Congress already has passed half this year’s funding bills, ensuring that several important federal agencies and programs continue to operate through September. Nutrition assistance programs, for example, should be unaffected.
Funding will lapse, at least temporarily, for the Pentagon and agencies such as the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation. Essential functions will continue, but workers could go without pay if the impasse drags on. Some could be furloughed.
The government funding process had been going smoothly, with key lawmakers in the House and Senate finding bipartisan agreement. But the shooting deaths this month of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, by federal agents in Minneapolis, changed the dynamic.
Democrats were incensed after Pretti's killing and demanded that one of the six remaining funding bills, for DHS and its associated agencies, be stripped from the package passed by the House. They said the bill must include changes to immigration enforcement, including a code of conduct for federal agents and a requirement that officers show identification.
Eager to avoid another shutdown, President Donald Trump's White House struck a deal with Democrats to temporarily fund DHS at current levels for two weeks while the negotiations play out.
The Senate passed the five-bill funding package Friday, but it must pass the House again before becoming law. The House is not returning until Monday, ensuring funding will lapse for parts of the government, at least temporarily.
Yes, and typically the effects were not very visible to anyone hoping to use government services.
There were a couple of these in Trump's first administration.
In January 2018, a dispute over immigration protections resulted in a weekend shutdown. Some federal workers were furloughed or worked without pay. Benefits such as Social Security and Medicare were uninterrupted, many people did not notice the shutdown and federal offices reopened the following Monday after a deal was in place.
In February 2018, the shortest shutdown in U.S. history lasted about nine hours, overnight, and most people did not notice any impact. While agencies technically shut down after funding lapsed, it was so brief that furlough notices were not all sent out, and nothing was closed during business hours.
The funding lapse affects the Pentagon and agencies such as the Transportation Department and DHS, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Experts have said FEMA should have enough money to respond to the massive winter storm still affecting large swaths of the country. FEMA would have about $7 billion to $8 billion in a fund for disaster response and recovery efforts and the staff who work on them. An extended shutdown could put more pressure on that fund, especially if FEMA must respond to new disasters.
Other FEMA operations, such as the ability to write or renew National Flood Insurance Program policies, would pause, as they did during last year’s 43-day shutdown.
That shutdown took a toll on the traveling public as delays and cancellations mounted, and there is now a risk of air travel disruptions again: One of the spending bills awaiting House passage covers the Department of Transportation, which is responsible for the air traffic control system and its workforce.
Air traffic controllers would still report for duty, but would be doing so without pay until a funding bill is passed.
No. That is a major change from the fall shutdown, when many people had to do with little-to-no assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the final weeks of the government closure. The bill to end that shutdown funded the Department of Agriculture and the programs that it administers through the remainder of the budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
That means full SNAP benefits will continue now. The federal food program serves about 42 million people, about 1 in 8 Americans, in lower-income households. They receive an average of around $190 monthly per person.
Another key program fully funded for the year is the federal supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, known as WIC. It provides pregnant women and young children with healthy food and nutrition counseling.
Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
The U.S. Capitol is photographed Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A person works at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Joel Dahmen arrived to the PGA Tour too late to see Tiger Woods in his prime at Torrey Pines. He was witness to what might have been the next best thing Saturday — Justin Rose in control of his game and making the rest of the field feel hopeless in the Farmers Insurance Open.
Rose stretched his lead to as many as eight shots in a performance Woods could appreciate. He was slowed by a few mistakes on the back nine and wound up with a 4-under 68 to lead by six, the largest 54-hole lead at the tournament since Woods led by eight in 2008.
“I’ve enjoyed playing the golf course this week. I want to continue to enjoy the week as a whole,” Rose said. “And yeah, it’s another great round in good weather on an awesome golf course.”
Rose started with a four-shot lead and pulled away with a sublime three-hole stretch of birdies on the front nine — a pitching wedge to a back pin to 6 feet on No. 5, a 7-wood to pin-high on the par-5 sixth and a 9-iron over a tree to 5 feet with the pin tucked right over a bunker.
“He hit at some pins that I was very impressed at, but then they went to 4 feet and he tapped it in for birdie,” Dahmen said. “You know you’re playing really well when you’re doing that. And it was kind of one after another.”
But the seventh hole got his attention, even though Rose sheepishly conceded he wasn't trying to be that aggressive.
“There’s no room to miss it,” Dahmen said. "The wind is starting to puff off that canyon there so it always plays longer. So he’s got to hit it high over the tree out of the first cut — it could fly, come out dead — and he hits this thing to the moon, it comes down to 4 feet.
“You don’t hit that shot in a practice round let alone when you have a six- or seven-shot lead on Saturday,” he said. “At that point, that was just kind of like, ‘OK, you win.’"
Rose was at 21-under 195, breaking by three shots the 54-hole tournament record that previously belonged to him in 2019 when he won, along with Kyle Stanley (2012), Woods (2008) and Woody Blackburn (1985). Stanley is the only one who didn't win, losing a five-shot lead.
Rose has been around long to take nothing for granted. And he was the beneficiary of Dustin Johnson, the world's No. 1 player at the time, losing a six-shot lead in the 2017 HSBC Champions.
“There’s never going to be any complacency,” Rose said. “I think there’s always enough respect for the game of golf in the back of your mind that you’ve got to do everything right tomorrow. You’re going to come out, have to be focused, have to play well.”
Woods practically owned the public course along the Pacific bluffs with eight professional wins, including the U.S. Open.
Brooks Koepka, in his return to the PGA Tour from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, played a solid round except for the short putts. He turned a 3-foot par putt into a double bogey on the par-3 11th, and he had a 3-foot birdie putt turn into a bogey on the par-5 ninth, his final hole. He missed six putts inside 5 feet and shot 73.
“I’ve never felt comfortable on poa. You just miss a few and you’ve got zero confidence,” he said. “I tried to take the break out to still be aggressive like I normally am, but I wasn’t even hitting the hole. I don’t know,. I’m just going to chalk it up to just a bad day. But I’m happy with everything else."
Is it over?
“My only hope is if he doesn’t set his alarm or he somehow starts hitting in the rough on the back nine maybe,” Dahmen said after his 68 that put him six behind, leading the B-flight. “I don’t know. The way he’s playing and what he’s doing, I would be pleased with second place.”
It's a big week for Dahmen, who finished outside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup in the year they reduced full cards from the top 125. He has conditional status and only got into the Farmers Insurance Open because of two courses allowing for a larger field.
He also has received a sponsor exemption into the WM Phoenix Open next week, so it’s a good time to help turn his fortunes. A strong Sunday would do wonders.
Rose, meanwhile, continues to enjoy what he once called his “Indian summer.”
At age 45, he was the oldest player by seven years on Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team. Even if asked — if Luke Donald declines a third captaincy — Rose said last week his focus would be on playing in the 2027 Ryder Cup.
A victory would move him to as high as No. 4 in the world ranking.
“Justin is really good at golf right now,” Dahmen said.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Joel Dahmen lines up his putt on the second green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, walks off the 18th green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, lines up his putt on the fifth green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, at right, putts on the third green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Justin Rose, of England, acknowledges the gallery after making a putt on the sixth green of the South Course at Torrey Pines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
