The U.S. government may face another "partial shutdown" this week

The United States just experienced a 43-day federal government shutdown last fall, and a week ago, there was a 4-day short shutdown. Now, another shutdown seems to be looming. The latest shutdown appears likely because Washington's Democrats and Republicans still have disagreements over potential reforms to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement practices.

The shutdown from January 31 to February 3 ended thanks to a bipartisan spending plan that provided only two weeks of funding for the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while negotiations over reforms are still ongoing.

This stopgap funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will last until Friday, which means the funding gap for DHS will begin at midnight local time on Saturday. Negotiations have not yet made any breakthroughs, so Washington is preparing for another shutdown, although it will certainly be a partial shutdown, as only the Department of Homeland Security will run out of funds.