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The U.S. Senate approved legislation Thursday that would end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, sending the same bill it passed last week to the House, which didn’t take any action during a brief session.
But it appeared the shutdown also could be affected by executive action. President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post later in the morning that he “will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security.”
He didn’t detail when that would take place or from where he would pull that money. White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for details.
Asked about the Senate-passed bill, Speaker Mike Johnson’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment as to when the House may approve the legislation. But members aren’t scheduled to return from a two-week spring break until April 14.
The House could have cleared the measure for Trump’s signature during a short session it held an hour after the Senate approved the bill, but its leaders chose not to.
Those pro forma sessions, as they are known, are held about every three days when one or both chambers of Congress are on break and the vast majority of lawmakers are away from Capitol Hill. They typically don’t include any real work and are intended to avoid recess appointments.
The Senate approved the bill after a few procedural remarks from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and didn’t hold a recorded vote.
‘Deep division and dysfunction’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement after the House opted not to clear the legislation that the “deep division and dysfunction among House Republicans is needlessly extending the DHS shutdown and hurting federal workers who are missing another paycheck.”
“The Senate did its work twice to fund key parts of DHS without funding the lawlessness of ICE and Border Patrol,” he added. “House Republicans need to get to work and end the longest Republican shutdown in history.”
The DHS appropriations bill the Senate approved would provide funding for the vast majority of the department except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol.
It would ensure funding for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Secret Service.
Senators approved an identical DHS funding bill last week by voice vote, but Johnson, R-La., rejected it and instead put an eight-week stopgap spending bill up for a vote in the House.
That legislation had no chance of getting past procedural hurdles in the Senate, which require at least 60 lawmakers to vote to end debate.
Objections to immigration enforcement
Senate Democrats originally held up approval of the DHS spending bill after federal officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. They have said repeatedly since then they won’t approve any more funding for immigration and deportation activities without new guardrails.
Thune reached a deal with Schumer last week to pass a DHS funding bill without any new money for ICE or the Border Patrol, which have tens of billions available from Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law.
GOP lawmakers said at the time the idea was to approve another reconciliation package to further bolster funding levels for immigration enforcement and deportations.
“To my Democrat colleagues, this bill is the moderate option. What’s coming next is going to supercharge deportations,” Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said during floor debate at the time. “To my Republican colleagues, let this be a rallying cry every time the Democrats obstruct the safety of American families, the wall gets 10 feet higher and ICE gets another $100 billion.”
Thune and Johnson released a statement Wednesday that they had brokered a deal to do just that, with Trump’s support.
“In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited,” they said. “In return, Democrats will once again demonstrate to the American people their support for open borders and keeping criminal illegal immigrants in America.”
Trump wrote in his social media post that “Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers.”
By Jennifer Shutt, News From The States
