The Department of Homeland Security has issued a recall instructing all furloughed staff to resume work on their next regularly scheduled workday, according to a notice distributed to employees on Friday. For most personnel, that return date will be Monday.
The recall follows a White House memorandum dated April 3 in which the President signed an emergency order directing that DHS employees receive compensation and benefits equivalent to what they lost during the agency's partial shutdown. A separate official from the administration confirmed that the department has told all employees to return and that the President's directive requires they be paid.
Officials have noted that the partial U.S. government shutdown has persisted for nearly two months. While a large portion of DHS staff are classified as "essential" and have been required to work throughout the shutdown, the recall explicitly covers those who had been furloughed. DHS employs roughly 270,000 people.
Lawmakers in Congress have not yet reached agreement on a fiscal 2026 appropriations measure for the Department of Homeland Security. Political tensions over the administration's immigration policies have intensified the debate. Democrats have criticized the administration's intensified immigration enforcement efforts, including the expanded use of personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a component of DHS.
Rights groups have condemned the administration's crackdown on immigration enforcement, arguing that certain actions violate due process and free speech and create an unsafe environment for minority communities. The administration, however, has defended its approach as necessary to strengthen domestic security and reduce illegal immigration.
The agency's work has also faced heightened scrutiny following a series of events earlier this year in Minnesota, where federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens. That episode has contributed to increased attention on the operations and conduct of ICE agents.
In a comment relayed to the Federal News Network, a DHS spokesperson said that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin "will be utilizing available funding to recall the entire DHS workforce" and placed responsibility for the partial shutdown on Democrats. The spokesperson added that the workforce's "paychecks are now being processed."")
With the recall order and the President's emergency directive in place, the department is preparing to bring furloughed employees back into service while funding and political disputes remain unresolved in Congress.