The bill goes to Trump’s desk and will end a shutdown that began on Feb. 14.
The House passed by voice vote on April 30 a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
The bill goes to President Donald Trump’s desk and will end a shutdown that began on Feb. 14.
Democrats wanted immigration enforcement reforms in exchange for funding ICE and Border Patrol following the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration enforcement agents. These reforms include agents being maskless and carrying identification.
Republicans will look to fund ICE and Border Patrol in a separate bill through a process called reconciliation that allows for bypassing the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate that applies to most legislation.
Calls to pass the legislation—and secure its funding for presidential protection, which the Senate has already approved unanimously twice—have grown louder since Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, where prosecutors say a man attempted to assassinate Trump.
However, the continued inaction has sparked questions about whether House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his Republican leadership team are at odds with the White House—an idea the speaker strongly rejected.
“We’re not defying the White House. … Everybody understands what we’re doing. We’re all one team. We’re working together. I met with [Senate Majority] Leader [John] Thune two hours ago. He knows exactly what we’re doing,” Johnson told reporters. “We understand the urgency of it.”
Still, conservative hardliners within the House GOP have withheld support, objecting to language in the bill that explicitly bars any of its funds from being used for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Earlier this week, the White House Office of Management and Budget warned that funding for the affected agencies could run out in May, which begins Friday. If that happens, the administration may be unable to fully pay Department of Homeland Security personnel—potentially disrupting air travel and weakening national security.
Both the House and Senate are scheduled to leave Washington on Thursday for a one-week recess.
Johnson had dismissed the bill as a “joke” just last month.
However, by initiating the budget process, he opened the door for a broader bipartisan measure covering TSA agents and other Department of Homeland Security personnel. Late Wednesday, House Republicans passed a budget resolution in a near party-line vote of 215–211. The plan aims to allocate $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations through the remainder of Trump’s presidency, which ends in January 2029, while also preventing Democrats from blocking the funding.
After the vote, Johnson admitted he had previously criticized the bill but said the new approach—separating immigration enforcement funding into its own budget track—made it acceptable to him, allowing passage “with no controversial Democratic provisions.”
