Noem warns DHS shutdown is impacting World Cup prep - Spectrum News

WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is warning that the shutdown at her department is directly impacting security preparations for major events set to take place in the U.S. this year as it approaches the two-week mark without full funding and no clear path forward currently on the horizon.

“The longer DHS goes without funding, the less prepared our nation will be for threats at the FIFA World Cup and America 250,” Noem wrote in a post on X. “This Democrat shutdown directly impacts DHS’s ability to keep Americans safe at these events and our national security.”

On FIFA World Cup matches in particular, which are set to kick off across the country in just over three months, the Department of Homeland Security chief added that no funds have been able to be awarded under the federal grant program intended to help host cities prepare. The department announced months ago it would make available more $600 million through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant program to “enhance security and preparedness for the 2026 FIFA World Cup events in the United States.” The notice says it anticipated nine awards of the program with an anticipated award date of “No later than January 30, 2026.”

In her post, Noem noted that “significant portions of the FEMA staff” are on administrative leave due to the lapse in funding. Eleven U.S. cities are set to host matches during this year’s World Cup, which begins in June.

The shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, is set to cross into its third week over the weekend, as Democrats seek changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, from President Donald Trump and Republicans.

In a joint statement Friday, spokespeople for the Senate and House Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, said the pair received a new counteroffer from the White House regarding potential changes to immigration enforcement practices and “are reviewing it closely.”

“Democrats remain committed to keep fighting for real reforms to rein in ICE and stop the violence,” the statement read.

After a record-long shutdown across the government this past fall driven primarily by the issue of health care, followed by a short partial one earlier this year, the fight over DHS funding was sparked after the killing of two people in Minneapolis by federal agents amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city.

Efforts to allocate funds for DHS in the Senate, where Republicans need support of a handful of Democrats to pass funding bills, fell flat this week.

Asked about the state of negotiations earlier this week, Schumer said the ball was in the White House and Republicans’ court.

“All they have to do is agree with our simple ideas that every police department, just about, in America follows and we’ll get it all done — plain and simple,” he said

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Trump slammed Democrats over the shutdown, arguing they have “closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers" while demanding full funding be restored.

He also asserted there was no money to “help people clean up the snow” after storms slammed parts of the Northeast, presumably referring to FEMA, which assists with natural disasters.

Appearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee ahead of the shutdown, however, Gregg Phillips, the associate administrator of FEMA's Office of Response and Recovery, said the agency’s “Disaster Relief Fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities for the foreseeable future.” He did warn of other potential impacts such as the possibility it could “undermine our readiness for major incidents.”

Despite immigration enforcement being the crux of the shutdown, ICE and Customs and Border Protection were expected to be the least impacted due to the influx of money Republicans and Trump allocated to it in their “one big, beautiful bill" signed into law this past summer.

Several other agencies housed in the department, however, are facing the effects of the funding lapse, including the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FEMA and the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. Last weekend, the department said it was shutting down TSA’s Global Entry and PreCheck programs amid the lapse in funding, before going back on the latter.