Congress voted Thursday to end a 75-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown, sending a funding bill to President Trump's desk as a critical deadline loomed for agency payroll and operations.
The House approved the Senate-passed measure by voice vote, a procedural move where members voice their approval without recording individual votes. Trump had publicly urged lawmakers to pass the bill and signaled he would sign it immediately.
The shutdown, which began after Democrats rejected Republican budget proposals in mid-February, threatened to leave thousands of federal workers without pay. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned that emergency funding would expire Thursday if Congress did not act.
The bill reopens most DHS agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, and Secret Service through the end of September. However, it does not include new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection, the two agencies at the center of the dispute between Democrats and Republicans.
Both agencies maintained operations and staffing throughout the shutdown using existing funds. Democrats had demanded reforms to immigration enforcement tactics under the Trump administration, including mandatory body cameras for officers and restrictions on raids at schools and hospitals. Republicans rejected those conditions.
House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized the outcome as a Republican victory, noting that the GOP had passed a separate budget resolution Wednesday that charts a path to fund ICE and Border Patrol independently of Democratic input. The Senate had already approved that resolution.
The budget measure instructs congressional committees to draft legislation authorizing roughly $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol over approximately three years. By using the budget reconciliation process, Republicans can pass that spending bill without needing any Democratic votes in either chamber. If nearly all GOP members support the measure, Democrats cannot block it.
"We got the budget resolution passed. This is very, very important, because that will ensure that border security and immigration enforcement will continue today and well into the future," Johnson told reporters after Thursday's vote. "Democrats got absolutely nothing for their political charade and shenanigans out of them."
The timing of Thursday's vote was tight. Both chambers were preparing to depart for a weeklong recess at the end of the day. Lawmakers also faced a separate deadline on a foreign intelligence surveillance program known as FISA Section 702, which authorization was set to expire Thursday. Members of both parties said letting that program lapse would create a national security threat, though the Senate had not yet sent a short-term extension to the House for a vote.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The funding deal looks like a win for Republicans on paper, but they essentially capitulated on the immediate payoff, getting ICE and Border Patrol funding deferred to a later fight where Democrats have zero leverage."
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