The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnarled by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But, nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job – even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends – and the public won’t notice much of a change.
DHS is the last federal agency lacking funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, which runs through September 30. Since the 43-day shutdown ended in mid-November 2025, lawmakers have passed a series of spending bills for the rest of the government.
Talks between the White House and Democrats have been moving slowly, and the two chambers aren’t scheduled to return to Washington until February 23, though GOP leaders could still call members back if a deal is reached.
DHS is a sprawling agency that includes not only ICE, CBP, and TSA, but also the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Secret Service, and other divisions.
I observed that this partial shutdown at this time when the next round of Iran talks are expected Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland within nest few minutes, how could such situation at home impact the deal while even as President Donald Trump stuck a pessimistic tone yesterday when discussing ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran over a potential nuclear deal, saying the Iranians don’t have a good track record.
“I will say they want to talk, but they do a lot of talking, no action, Trump said. He also suggested that regime change Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated” after US strikes on them last summer, but urged the country to negotiate a deal with the United States in order to avoid another potential military attack.
I find that such a scenario looks evident enough to hamper the talks between the diplomats to reach a final deal immediately, as the US could hesitate to initiate an immediate military strike over Iran amid such a situation, despite sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East, which the president said would be there in case he is unable to reach a diplomatic agreement.
Undoubtedly, precious metals have reacted sharply to developments while the meeting at Geneva, Switzerland, is going on, while I am writing this article, as the futures have slid approximately 2%, futures are down approximately 4%, and the spot gold-silver ratio () has surged 0.72%.
Disclaimer: Readers are advised to take any position in gold and silver at their own risk, as this analysis is based only on observations.
