DHS funding standoff threatens services
A bipartisan stalemate over DHS funding — the House passed an eight‑week stopgap that Senate leaders called 'dead on arrival' — is risking federal support for legal aid, resettlement, and other immigrant services in Vermont while some federal workers are already missing paychecks. (rollcall.com) (bostonglobe.com)
The House approved the funding measure on March 27, 2026 by a 213–203 vote, and the bill’s language would extend DHS funding through May 22 and provide back pay for wages frozen during the lapse. (rollcall.com)) The shutdown has left large swaths of DHS payroll unpaid: the department employs roughly 260,000 people and officials have estimated about 100,000 employees were not receiving pay for time worked during the lapse. (federalnewsnetwork.com)) The administration signed an order directing DHS to resume pay for Transportation Security Administration screeners, and officials said TSA workers could begin seeing paychecks as soon as Monday, March 30, 2026. (politico.com)) In Vermont an estimated 4,845 federal employees work in the state and local reporting has documented Vermont TSA officers confronting $0.00 paychecks amid the DHS funding lapse. (vermontdailychronicle.com)) Four resettlement partners with Vermont presence — USCRI Vermont, Lutheran Social Services of New England, Catholic Charities Vermont, and the International Institute of New England — form the core of the state’s refugee reception network that last reported resettling more than 500 newcomers in the prior year. (refugees.org)) Vermont Legal Aid reported about one-third of its roughly $12.1 million budget comes from federal grants, the statewide Immigration Community Lawyering Initiative launched in January 2026 added two staff attorneys to expand services, and the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund announced it had raised more than $850,000 as of March 25, 2026. (legislature.vermont.gov)) National-level funding shifts have already prompted program changes affecting Vermont: Episcopal Migration Ministries’ withdrawal from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has forced at least one Vermont resettlement office to pause resettlement, and local groups have ramped private fundraising and legal-service capacity-building to offset federal interruptions. (saveresettlement.org))
