House Republicans Pass Short-Term DHS Funding Bill Amid Ongoing Shutdown

Late on Friday, House Republicans approved a temporary funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), despite strong objections from Democratic lawmakers. However, the ongoing 42-day shutdown—which has impacted air travel and left many federal employees without pay—continues.

The vote, which mostly fell along party lines, resulted in a 213-203 approval for a two-month funding extension. The DHS has been functioning without a full annual budget since funding began running out on February 14. Notably, a few Democrats, including Don Davis, Marie Grusenkamp Perez, and Henry Cuellar, backed this bill, while over a dozen representatives chose not to cast their votes.

The House’s proposed bill will face significant challenges in the Senate, where Democrats have been blocking Republican-led legislation for six weeks that includes funding for immigration. Both chambers of Congress are anticipated to leave Washington for the Easter break without resolving these funding issues, which raises concerns about the possibility of the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed to The Ingraham Angle on Friday that, over the next eight weeks, his party plans to collaborate with Democrats to come up with necessary reforms while emphasizing the need to protect national security. He argued, “This is the most important and fundamental function of Congress, and Democrats don’t want it.”

On the opposing side, Democratic lawmakers, who have frequently rejected President Trump’s immigration-focused DHS funding proposals, mirrored their previous stances. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the Republicans, saying they are again causing disruption for American families and pushing extreme ideological agendas while spending on ICE.

This vote came after GOP leaders and the conservative House Freedom Caucus dismissed a Senate deal passed earlier that day, which would have funded most DHS sub-agencies but excluded portions of ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

The National Border Protection Council endorsed the House bill, claiming that the Senate’s decision to underfund DHS was “totally unacceptable.” Meanwhile, Senate Republicans hinted at a more comprehensive bill aimed at providing extra funding for ICE and Border Patrol, though this could face complications in an election year.

Trump voiced his discontent with the Senate agreement during a Fox News interview, stating that “there can be no bill that doesn’t fund ICE.” Concerns about how to adequately fund these immigration enforcement agencies in future budget talks were also raised by House Republican leaders.

Johnson mentioned the pressing challenge of getting this completed, adding, “It’s a risky bet for us to think we can do it.” He underscored the urgency of ensuring pay for those affected by the shutdown, given that many are still waiting on their checks.

The shutdown’s most pressing concern, the shortage of TSA staff at airports across the nation, is expected to improve. Due to staffing issues, travelers have faced long wait times at security checkpoints, leading to more disruptions. In response, Trump issued an executive order to have DHS cover the salaries of more than 50,000 TSA employees who had been working without pay since the shutdown began. These workers are set to receive their full paychecks for the first time in over six weeks on Monday.