Donald Trump has signed bipartisan legislation to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending the longest government agency shutdown in history. The deal, approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in a voice vote, provides money for the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) but excludes key immigration enforcement arms such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The agreement draws a line under a 75-day impasse that threatened airport chaos and exposed fresh strains within the Republican party. The Senate had passed the package weeks ago, but it languished in the House as conservative Republicans demanded that any funding deal be tied to a long-term plan to bankroll the White House’s immigration crackdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson faced mounting pressure as his wafer-thin majority repeatedly failed to break the deadlock. A budget resolution pushed through by House Republicans on Wednesday, providing $70bn for immigration enforcement via a separate process without Democrats, opened the door for the narrower homeland security measure to proceed a day later.
The White House had warned that emergency funds diverted to keep frontline staff paid were close to exhaustion, putting essential personnel and national security operations at risk. More than 1,000 TSA officers have reportedly resigned since the shutdown began in February, and airline executives warned of potential travel disruption.
Senior Democrat Rosa DeLauro expressed frustration that the legislation, introduced more than two months ago, had been held hostage by Republican infighting. Democrats had refused to support fresh money for immigration enforcement agencies without reforms to detention and deportation policies, particularly after public anger over the deaths of US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Although the immediate crisis has been averted, a deeper confrontation over Trump’s hardline immigration programme – and the billions he wants to sustain it – has merely been postponed until the summer. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham urged Congress to pass reconciliation to finish the job.
