Record-Long Shutdown Nears End as House Passes DHS Funding Bill
The bulk of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is on track to be over soon, after the House passed the Senate’s bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The bill, which twice passed the Senate, was approved by voice vote in the House.
The measure will fully reopen all DHS agencies, including the US Coast Guard, Secret Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Transportation Security Administration, once signed into law by President Trump.
Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier in the week that he wanted significant changes to the bill. But that all changed. The speaker cited progress in immigration funding efforts.
The White House and Senate Republicans were also putting pressure on the House since the shooting at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on Saturday and the fact that DHS said it would run out of emergency money for paychecks come May.
Reconciliation Bill Moving Forward Too
Separately, the House approved the Senate’s fiscal blueprint funding ICE and CBP, unlocking the ability for Republicans to pass a party-line reconciliation package. The 215-211 vote was along party lines.
With both chambers passing the blueprint, lawmakers can work on a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to provide about $70 billion in funding for immigration enforcement. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Judiciary committees will take the lead on writing the legislation.
Senate leaders hope to have the bill on the floor by the week of May 11.
Democrats continue to demand reforms to immigration enforcement.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) says the bill funds ICE and CBP “with basically no strings attached.”
