Trump signed a DHS funding bill ending a record shutdown, while GOP pushes to fund ICE and CBP via reconciliation.
A fight over immigration funding ended only partway, as President Donald Trump signed a Department of Homeland Security budget bill that keeps the department running while leaving its immigration enforcement agencies out of the package.
The bill was approved by House members earlier in the day and then signed on Thursday. ending a record-setting shutdown that dragged on for 76 days.. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the interruption is over. framing the outcome as a return of pay security and continuity for homeland security operations after an extended period without guaranteed funding.
The measure. identified as HR 7147. supplies funding for major components within DHS such as FEMA. the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S.. Secret Service.. But it does not extend that financing to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection. leaving those agencies at the center of ongoing policy and funding disputes between lawmakers and the White House.
In this context, the immediate political significance is that the shutdown’s end was achieved without resolving the deeper disagreement over how Congress should fund immigration enforcement, effectively postponing the most contentious part of the spending fight.
Democrats in the House refused to fund ICE and CBP unless Congress attached stricter conditions tied to the agencies’ enforcement practices.. The dispute escalated after federal immigration operations were linked to deadly outcomes. prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand additional guardrails before providing continued funding.
Republicans. meanwhile. argue that immigration enforcement should not be treated as a bargaining chip. and they are now pressing for a separate path to finance ICE and Border Patrol.. GOP leaders have pointed to an earlier funding development that already helped cover DHS immigration functions. while also seeking an additional roughly $70 billion to keep ICE and CBP funded through the end of Trump’s second term.
To bypass Democratic opposition. Republicans are exploring budget reconciliation. a procedure that can move policy and spending without the need for all Democratic votes.. The House adopted a budget framework late Wednesday to open the door to reconciliation. and GOP leaders have said the goal is to prevent future shutdowns and deter Democrats from attempting to defund immigration enforcement again.
Union reaction has added pressure to keep federal pay disruptions from becoming a recurring tool of leverage.. The American Federation of Government Employees said federal workers continued reporting to duty during the shutdown without guaranteed pay. and it criticized the delayed timing of congressional action as well as the broader practice of using employees’ livelihoods for political leverage.
The stakes now go beyond whether DHS is funded for the moment. As Misryoum readers see the push toward reconciliation gather momentum, the larger question is whether Congress can align on immigration enforcement policy through the budget process without triggering another prolonged funding crisis.