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The House on Thursday approved a Senate-passed funding bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, ending a record 75-day shutdown just hours before emergency funds were set to run dry and thousands of federal workers risked missing paychecks.
The measure passed by voice vote, allowing lawmakers to avoid recording individual positions as they raced to avert disruptions across one of the federal government’s largest agencies. President Donald Trump has said he will sign the bill into law.
The legislation funds most DHS operations through Sept. 30 but excludes new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, leaving a central political dispute over immigration enforcement unresolved.
The shutdown began Feb. 14 after Democrats refused to support Republican-backed funding without changes to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Democratic lawmakers pushed for reforms including requiring body cameras for agents and limiting enforcement actions in sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals.
In late March, the Senate unanimously passed a compromise bill to fund most of DHS, carving out ICE and Border Patrol funding as a separate issue. House Speaker Mike Johnson initially rejected that approach but reversed course this week as pressure mounted ahead of a funding deadline.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned lawmakers that emergency funding used to keep workers paid during the shutdown would be exhausted by Thursday, raising the stakes for swift action.
By excluding ICE and Border Patrol from the bill, Republicans are pursuing a two-track strategy that allows them to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the budget reconciliation process. That approach would enable them to bypass Senate filibuster rules and pass funding with a simple majority, without agreeing to Democratic policy demands.
On Wednesday, the House adopted a Senate-passed budget resolution directing committees to draft legislation providing roughly $70 billion for ICE and Border Patrol over the next three years.
Johnson said the sequencing was intentional, tying progress on immigration funding to broader Republican priorities.
“I think having passed our budget resolution yesterday was a very important step,” Johnson told reporters. “We have to absolutely make sure those two critical agencies … are fully funded, and Republicans have to do that on our own.”
Trump had urged swift passage of the DHS funding bill, framing it as necessary to restore stability to national security operations. Once signed, the legislation will fund key agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service through the end of the fiscal year.
Lawmakers moved quickly before departing Washington for a weeklong recess, underscoring concerns about the operational impact of the prolonged shutdown.
The standoff reflects deeper divisions in Washington over immigration policy and the use of shutdowns as leverage. While Democrats argue reforms are necessary to curb enforcement practices, Republicans have increasingly turned to budget reconciliation to sidestep bipartisan negotiations.
The episode also highlights the growing reliance on short-term funding maneuvers and last-minute votes to maintain government operations, particularly in politically charged areas like homeland security.
Congress must now finalize separate legislation to fund ICE and Border Patrol, a process likely to intensify partisan tensions in the coming weeks.
Lawmakers are also facing another immediate deadline: reauthorization of the federal surveillance program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is set to expire unless Congress acts.
With DHS reopened but key disputes unresolved, the fight over immigration funding and national security priorities is expected to continue well beyond this week’s deadline-driven deal.
