DHS orders furloughed employees back to work amid prolonged shutdown

Thousands of furloughed Homeland Security employees were ordered back to work even though the department remained effectively shut down and unfunded, a stark reminder that the government is keeping its doors open by leaning on workers who have gone weeks without certainty about pay.

The recall notice told furloughed staff to report on their next regularly scheduled workday, which for most fell on Monday, April 13, 2026. Employees who could not return were instructed to request leave and secure supervisor approval, and workers who did not follow the process could face administrative or disciplinary action. The order covered employees across a department that has roughly 260,000 to 270,000 workers, with about 90% affected in some way by the shutdown.

DHS funding lapsed on Feb. 14, and by April 10 to April 12 the shutdown had stretched to roughly 56 to 58 days, making it one of the longest funding lapses the department has endured. Many DHS employees are classified as essential or excepted, meaning they have been expected to keep working through the shutdown even when they are not paid on time. That includes workers at the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

President Donald Trump signed an April 3 memorandum directing DHS to use available funds with a “reasonable and logical nexus” to DHS functions to pay every employee the compensation and benefits lost during the shutdown. DHS then began processing paychecks for many workers in the April 10 to April 16 window, with some employees expected to receive back pay tied to the Feb. 14 funding lapse. For TSA agents, that meant a payday after weeks of uncertainty, while thousands of staffers elsewhere in the department still waited.

The shutdown fight has been driven by the deadlock over fiscal 2026 funding and immigration policy, with the Senate passing a measure that would have funded most of DHS through Sept. 30, but the House of Representatives not taking it up right away. The result has been prolonged strain at airports and inside DHS operations, as workers have coped with delayed wages, missed rent and mortgage payments, and in some cases the need to draw on tax refunds or savings to get by.

The pressure has been especially acute at FEMA, where ABC News reported the department was advising furloughed employees to apply for unemployment. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents large numbers of DHS workers, has pressed Congress to ensure they are paid and warned that about 90% of Homeland Security’s workforce was working without pay. The episode has exposed how much of the federal government can continue only because its workers keep showing up without knowing when the next check will arrive.