The Senate broke a logjam in the wee hours of Friday morning to pass a funding bill by voice vote that would effectively end a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n
After a late night of negotiations, the Senate agreed to a modified version of a bill that would fund all of the department with the exception of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and most of Customs and Border Protection \u2014 the two agencies that have been at the center of a partisan standoff over immigration enforcement practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the way to fund the department,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after the vote. \u201cBut we are out of time for the critical responsibilities and tens of thousands of workers currently going without pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thune said Democrats won none of the policy changes they had sought to immigration enforcement practices that had triggered the partial shutdown more than 40 days ago. He suggested Republicans were likely to seek funding for ICE and CBP through a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill in coming months.<\/p>\n
Democrats had said for weeks they were willing to fund almost all of the department except for the immigration agencies as they continued to fight for more restrictions on federal agents in the wake of the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn\u2019t stood in the way,\u201d said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. \u201cDemocrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump\u2019s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill now heads to the House, which could take it up as early as Friday. It wasn\u2019t yet clear whether it would encounter strong opposition in that chamber.<\/p>\n