Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed early Saturday morning, leaving the agency shut down. But with TSA and ICE agents still on the job, the public has barely taken notice.
Most DHS employees must continue to work--without pay--through their department's shutdown, just as they did when the entire federal government shut down for 43 days late last year--the longest shutdown in government history.
Using Rolli IQ, now with access to Meta social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads, it's clear that few people are taking to social media to complain or comment on the DHS shutdown. Searching for DHS and shutdown shows just around 50 thousand mentions and half a million engagements--hardly anything compared to most political topics
Most posts veered off into side political discussions, yielding a high "Irrelevant" score, but those few on topic were mostly angry at Democrats for holding out for limits on how ICE and other federal agents can operate.
Rolli IQ's AI summary of each social media platform shows how that anger--low in volume as it is--comes from those who see this move as a political game. Twitter/X users, typically leaning to the right, covered the political gamut, adding their concerns over how another shutdown so close to the last will affect DHS employees and their families:
- Twitter/X: The posts overwhelmingly express frustration and criticism regarding the US Senate's failure to advance the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, leading to a partial DHS shutdown. The shutdown is portrayed as a politically motivated move by Democrats, who are accused of risking national security by shutting down critical agencies like the Coast Guard, TSA, FEMA, and cybersecurity teams, while ICE remains fully funded. Senator John Fetterman is noted as the lone Democrat supporting the funding bill, criticizing his party's approach. Republicans and some Democrats condemn the shutdown as harmful to homeland security and federal employees, with calls to end political gamesmanship and pass funding. The overall tone is one of disapproval toward the Democrats' handling of the situation, emphasizing the negative impacts on government operations and public safety.
In contrast, Rolli IQ's AI summary shows users on left-leaning Bluesky had a somewhat more positive reaction to the shutdown, seeing a path for Democrats to have an impact on immigration policy and praising this more hardball approach than Democrats have taken in the past. Still, there are some posts on the platform critical of Democrats and the system in general for yet another shutdown affecting federal workers
- Bluesky: The posts overwhelmingly focus on the impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to a funding impasse primarily centered around demands for reforms to ICE and CBP. Democrats are portrayed as willing to let DHS shut down to push for immigration enforcement reforms, while Republicans are criticized for choosing shutdown over supporting restrictions on ICE. Many posts highlight the negative consequences of the shutdown, including impacts on essential DHS functions like TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard, as well as the financial strain on DHS employees working without pay. There is significant frustration and concern about the political stalemate, the potential length of the shutdown, and the broader implications for immigration policy and government operations. Some posts express support for the shutdown as a means to force change, but the overall tone reflects tension, conflict, and worry about the shutdown's effects.
Surprisingly, very few specific posts are about possible risks to the American people caused by the shutdown. Using Rolli IQ's Topic Tree function, it was difficult to find many posts that concerned public safety. It has been widely reported that nearly all DHS functions would continue through the shutdown, so users may be paying attention to the details they are receiving from the media. That resulted in eight of the 14 Topic Tree classifications of posts being about politics--with two more only tangentially connected, being focused on the Epstein files and Infowars.
Thus, those few users who did post and engage about the shutdown were almost all using their platforms to make political points for their own side or to take swipes at the other. Many posts from the right chastised Democrats for making a political show of the shutdown even though it will have no impact on the left's main target--ICE.
Democratic Senator John Fetterman put himself in the social media crosshairs by being the only Democrat to vote for funding, while the seven Republicans who joined Democrats to vote against funding (Rand Paul, Ted Budd, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Ashley Moody, Rick Scott and Tommy Tuberville) had very little pushback online. Fetterman was praised by the right and excoriated by the left for being a turncoat.
The other big political figure cited in many posts is, of course, Donald Trump. Despite this being a legislative issue, Trump backers were quick to point out what they see as the president's superior deal-making ability and his potential role is solving this crisis in the Senate. Those users called on Trump to hold the line and work to pass a measure to get DHS fully funded so he can carry on with his immigration agenda.
Despite a lot of anger toward Democrats, some users foudn social media to be a place to rally support for further action. Redditors saw this shutdown as a small step toward a larger goal of abolishing ICE and hoped the lack of pay to DHS workers would move them (and others) to the cause.
That same energy can be found on other platforms like Bluesky, with Democrats feeling more empowered by the shutdown vote and calling for the impeachment of the biggest target in their opposition to ICE tactics.
Even with some small pockets of energized and angry users on some platforms, the low level of attention to the shutdown by rank and file social media users mirrors what's coming out of those politicians directly responsible for what happens next to resolve the issue. Senate GOP leader John Thune hasn't posted about the shutdown on his Twitter/X account since Feb. 12--two days before it took effect. Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer hasn't posted about it since Feb. 13, still a day before the funding ran out.
The bottom line is that Rolli IQ analysis of social media posts surrounding the current DHS funding shutdown shows little interest in the topic as a whole, with isolated pockets of users on both ends of the political spectrum using the standoff to double down on long-held and long-fought positions that are frequent social media topics.
