Minnesota State Wire

Pete Stauber, Representative of Minnesota, said that a government shutdown has left Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents unpaid while they continue their work removing dangerous criminals. He noted that he visited the St. Paul Field Office to express gratitude for their efforts. This statement was made on the social media platform X.

"While ICE agents risk their lives to keep our communities safe, they are now being forced to work without pay thanks to the Schumer shutdown," said Peter Allen Stauber, U.S. Representative of Minnesota's 8th Congressional District (R). "Despite this unfair hardship and the constant attacks from the radical left, these brave men and women remain committed to their mission. Today, I visited their St. Paul Field Office to personally thank them for their service and commend the incredible work they are doing to remove dangerous criminals from our streets."

The referenced funding lapse is the fiscal year 2026 shutdown that began on October 1, 2025. According to Reuters, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on October 16 that it would continue paying more than 70,000 law enforcement personnel, including ICE agents, through reconciliation funds. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance allowed "excepted" operations to continue even when pay is delayed. This meant many ICE frontline duties continued despite broader impacts from the shutdown.

According to DHS budget materials, ICE staffing totals help determine who might work unpaid. The DHS's fiscal year 2025 ICE brief lists 21,439 full-time equivalents (FTEs), while Federal News Network reported that DHS would pay about 70,000 law enforcement staff during the funding lapse. ICE personnel outside this paid group would be considered "excepted" and accrue back pay under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA) once funding resumes.

Compared with prior shutdowns, OPM notes that excepted law enforcement staff work without pay until appropriations resume. However, since 2019 GEFTA requires retroactive pay; the 2025 lapse differed as DHS used reconciliation funds to pay many agents during the shutdown. This contrasts with the 2018–19 shutdown when most excepted officers waited for back pay after reopening.

Stauber represents Minnesota’s 8th District and serves on several committees according to the House Clerk: Natural Resources (Energy & Mineral Resources; Federal Lands), Small Business (Rural Development, Energy & Supply Chains), and Transportation & Infrastructure (Aviation; Highways & Transit; Railroads). A former Duluth police lieutenant, his focus includes public safety, mining, and infrastructure.