The months-long shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has finally concluded after Congress struck a funding agreement that was backed by President Donald Trump. The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to fund the majority of DHS, excluding its immigration enforcement arms, sending a bipartisan funding package to the President to break the impasse.
The voice vote passed quickly and without much fanfare, despite the months of vitriol over the department's financing. DHS had been without its routine funding from Congress since February 14, when Democrats protested a Republican-led bill following a deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota that resulted in two Americans being killed by federal agents.
Democrats demanded reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol to secure their support for a funding bill. They proposed a plan to fund parts of DHS while withholding money for ICE and the Border Patrol. The Senate Republicans passed that bill a month ago, but House Republicans initially refused to take it up. Republican Speaker Mike Johnson called the proposal a 'joke' last month, but on Thursday, his conference passed the measure.
The shutdown impacted several agencies under the DHS umbrella, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), ICE, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The impasse also affected TSA workers' pay, prompting over 1,000 officers to quit, which led to unbearably long airport security lines.
President Trump signed the bill on Thursday, ending the 76-day financing dispute. Republicans have stated that they will fund immigration enforcement in a forthcoming bill. This effort will come through a budget reconciliation bill, which would require far less Democratic support. It is expected to include $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations to support Trump's sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration.
Trump signed an order in late March to provide funding for TSA after airport lines grew so large that passengers faced hours-long waits to reach their terminals. The White House warned Republicans to resolve the impasse this week as money earmarked for TSA workers was running low. 'DHS will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk,' the Office of Management and Budget said in a memo sent out on Tuesday.
Most immigration enforcement functions remained funded throughout the shutdown due to a major cash infusion passed by Congress last summer as part of Trump's tax cut bill, dubbed 'The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.' That infusion provided $170 billion for immigration enforcement. Now, Republicans are preparing the larger reconciliation bill to provide extra funding for immigration enforcement without Democratic support, using the same method employed last summer to pass Trump's tax cuts without Democratic votes. Trump has stated he wants that bill on his desk no later than June 1.
