Partial shutdown ends as Beyer votes no, pushes DHS reforms ahead of Feb. 13 deadline

President Donald Trump signed a roughly $1.2 trillion government funding bill Tuesday ending a partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend, providing short-term relief to a city already navigating the deepest federal job losses in generations.

The House approved the measure 217-214, with 21 Republicans and 21 Democrats crossing party lines, according to the Associated Press. The bill funds most of the federal government through September but extends Department of Homeland Security funding only through Feb. 13.

Rep. Don Beyer, the Democrat who represents Alexandria, voted against the package. Beyer had opposed both pieces of the spending legislation when the House first passed them Jan. 22, citing concerns over DHS funding, the absence of language barring further federal workforce reductions and threats to withhold appropriated funding from states that voted against the president in 2024.

“I cannot support a funding deal that is premised on bad faith and punishing Virginians for exercising their right to vote,” Beyer said.

With the two-week DHS extension now ticking, Beyer is pressing for reforms to federal immigration enforcement following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis. In a newsletter Tuesday, Beyer said he is leading the ICE Visibility Act, which would require DHS agents to wear clear identification, and co-sponsoring the No Secret Police Act, which would ban officers from wearing masks.

“I firmly believe that without identification there is no accountability,” Beyer wrote. He also backs legislation with Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton that would mandate body cameras for all federal officers and set standards for how footage is retained and made available to investigators.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins had said Saturday that city leadership was closely monitoring the shutdown and assessing its potential impact on operations, services and residents.

“Our priority is to be prepared and responsive,” Gaskins said in a statement.

The shutdown carries particular weight in Alexandria, where approximately 13,000 federal employees live and 20 percent of the workforce holds federal jobs — well above the Northern Virginia average of 12.5 percent. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released last week confirmed the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area is the only large metro in the nation experiencing job decline, losing 48,500 jobs between November 2024 and November 2025.

Federal employment has fallen by 277,000 positions nationally — roughly 9 percent — since January 2025 under the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative.

Rep. James Walkinshaw and a group of Virginia and Maryland Democrats, including Beyer, earlier today introduced the True Shutdown Fairness Act, which would require the government to pay all federal employees, service members and contractors during any shutdowns in fiscal year 2026 and block the administration from using a shutdown to carry out reductions in force.

“Federal workers and service members should never be used as leverage in Republicans’ shutdown standoffs,” Walkinshaw said.

City Manager James Parajon is scheduled to present his proposed fiscal year 2027 budget Feb. 24, with final adoption set for April 29. Residents affected by federal workforce changes can visit alexandriava.gov/FederalWorkers.