The Department of Homeland Security has directed all workers who were placed on unpaid leave to report back to their positions amid the continuing partial government shutdown, based on an employee notification distributed Friday.
The department’s recall directive instructs all workers currently on furlough to resume their duties beginning with their next scheduled shift, which for the majority will be Monday.
The notification referenced a White House memorandum from April 3, where President Donald Trump issued an emergency directive guaranteeing that all DHS personnel would receive full compensation and benefits for losses incurred during the agency’s partial closure.
A Trump administration representative independently verified that DHS has instructed its entire workforce to return and confirmed that Trump’s order from the previous week ensures they will receive payment.
The partial closure of federal operations has persisted for almost two months. The majority of DHS personnel are classified as “essential,” meaning they must continue working even during shutdowns. The department employs 270,000 people.
Congressional representatives have not yet reached consensus on a fiscal 2026 budget allocation for DHS.
Democratic lawmakers have expressed strong opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, particularly his deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, which operates under DHS authority.
Civil rights organizations have criticized Trump’s enforcement approach, claiming it undermines due process and free speech protections while creating dangerous conditions, especially for minority communities.
Trump has justified his policies by stating they are designed to strengthen national security and reduce unauthorized immigration.
ICE faced heightened criticism following incidents earlier this year when federal agents killed two American citizens in Minnesota.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin “will be utilizing available funding to recall the entire DHS workforce” to restore operations, a department representative told the Federal News Network, while attributing responsibility for the partial shutdown to Democrats.
The representative confirmed that employee “paychecks are now being processed.”
