WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill that would fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the record 75-day shutdown of the sprawling federal agency.
President Donald Trump, who had urged lawmakers to pass the bill, signed the measure into law Thursday afternoon, funding DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service through the end of September.
The bill does not provide new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol, however, as Democrats demand changes to immigration enforcement. Both ICE and border enforcement had funding during the shutdown, and Republicans will try in the coming weeks to keep them funded for the rest of Trump’s term.
The House's action came right against a critical deadline. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned lawmakers that if they did not pass funding by Thursday, emergency funding would run out and thousands of workers would not be paid.
The bill passed “by voice,” with members shouting their approval without recording individual votes.
The House and the Senate also passed a short-term bill to prevent a key foreign spying program, known as FISA Section 702, from expiring Thursday. Members of both parties said it would be devastating for national security if authorization for the program expired. Congress agreed to a 45-day extension for FISA before it departed for a weeklong recess. Trump signed the measure into law Thursday evening.
Democrats forced a DHS shutdown Feb. 14, after Republicans rejected their demands to make reforms to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics, including mandating body cameras and limiting raids in sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals.
In late March, the Senate unanimously approved the legislation to fund most of the DHS agencies, except for ICE and the Border Patrol. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rejected that plan as "a joke" at the time.
Asked what had changed in the month since, Johnson noted the party’s progress on funding ICE and the Border Patrol. On Wednesday, the House passed a budget resolution that would create a pathway to fund both agencies for the rest of Trump’s term. That measure has already passed the Senate.
"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. ... Democrats got absolutely nothing for their political charade and shenanigans out of them," he told reporters after the vote.
“We’re not going to have lines at TSA. Everybody will get their paychecks now,” he added.
The budget resolution instructs congressional committees to draft legislation and authorize $70 billion to pay for ICE and the Border Patrol for roughly the next three years.
Under that budget "reconciliation" process, Republicans would be able to pass the legislation on their own, with no Democratic support needed in the House or the Senate. If nearly all Republicans are on board, the GOP would not need to make any of the policy changes demanded by Democrats to fund ICE and the Border Patrol.
