President Donald Trump has signed legislation to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, though not its immigration enforcement operations, bringing an end to the longest agency shutdown in United States history. The signing came after the House passed the measure by voice vote on Thursday without a formal roll call. The White House had warned that temporary funding used to pay Transportation Security Administration personnel and other workers was depleting and threatened disruptions for air travelers.
The DHS has operated without routine appropriations since February 14, creating hardship for its roughly 260,000 employees across the TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, and other operations. Many workers faced repeated threats of furloughs and missed paychecks. More than 1,000 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, according to Airlines for America. The bipartisan bill came after a standoff that lasted months, rooted in disputes over Trump's immigration policies and personnel changes within the agency.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said she had proposed the bill more than 70 days earlier. "It is about damn time," she stated. Democrats had refused to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol without operational changes, citing fatal shootings by federal agents during immigration-related protests in Minneapolis that killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Republicans, meanwhile, insisted that immigration operations could not be fully defunded.
To break the impasse, Republican leaders in both chambers decided to address immigration enforcement funding separately through budget reconciliation, a lengthy legislative process. This allowed the bipartisan bill for the rest of DHS to move forward. House Republicans adopted a budget resolution on a largely party-line vote on Wednesday that would eventually provide $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations through January 2029, when Trump's term expires.
House Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged that while he had previously opposed the bipartisan bill, the separate budget process ensures immigration funding will flow "with no crazy Democrat reforms." However, not all Republicans supported the approach. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas called isolating immigration money on a separate track "offensive to the men and women who serve in ICE and Border Patrol."
Immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through approximately $170 billion approved as part of Trump's tax cuts bill last year. Other workers, including TSA personnel, relied on Trump's executive actions to receive paychecks. With combined biweekly salaries totaling $1.6 billion, DHS leadership said the temporary funding was running dry.
Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said workers are "pleased that Congress finally stepped up" but noted it is "unacceptable that it took them this long." He stressed that "federal employees are not political pawns" and deserve dignity and respect. Lawmakers are expected to draft the actual $70 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding bill in May for a vote.
