{"id":51584,"date":"2026-04-30T23:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/51584\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T23:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:45:14","slug":"trump-signs-bill-funding-the-department-of-homeland-security-ending-record-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/51584\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump signs bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, ending record shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump swiftly signed a bipartisan legislation Thursday to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security<\/a>, but not its immigration enforcement operations, shortly after the package won final approval in the House, ending the longest agency shutdown in history.<\/p>\n

The quick action after weeks of political blame brought an abrupt end to the months-long standoff that began after Trump\u2019s deadly immigration crackdown<\/a> in Minneapolis launched a reckoning on Capitol Hill over the funding for the president\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

DHS has been without routine funds since Feb. 14, causing hardship for workers, and the White House had warned<\/a> that temporary funding Trump had tapped<\/a> to pay Transportation Security Administration and other agency personnel would \u201csoon run out.\u201d Some employees risked missed paychecks in May. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about damn time,\u201d said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who proposed the bipartisan bill more than 70 days ago. <\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

The House swiftly voted by voice earlier Thursday, without a formal roll call, to pass the measure. <\/p>\n

The movement in Congress comes as DHS is under intense scrutiny after Trump ousted Kristi Noem<\/a> as the department\u2019s leader, installing Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin<\/a> in the middle of the shutdown. The agency counts some 260,000 employees, across TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA and other operations.<\/p>\n

Many workers have endured repeated turmoil<\/a> with potential furloughs and pay lapses as the congressional stalemate dragged on. This shutdown came on the heels of last year\u2019s governmentwide closure, which itself had set a record at 43 days<\/a>. Countless employees have struggled with bills or simply quit their jobs.<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s deportation strategy fueled the dispute<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the fatal shootings of Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a>, both U.S. citizens, by federal agents during protests against the immigration actions in Minneapolis, Democrats refused to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol without changes to those operations.<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, Republicans would not go along with a plan pushed by Democrats to fund TSA and the other parts of DHS without the money for ICE and Border Patrol. They insisted that immigration operations must not be zeroed out.<\/p>\n

After the shutdown intensified, with hourslong lines at airport security screening<\/a>, the Senate unanimously approved<\/a> the bipartisan package in a middle of the night vote<\/a> a month ago. Then the bill languished in the House<\/a>. <\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., himself had called the legislation a \u201cjoke.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

To break the impasse, Republican leaders in both the House and Senate<\/a> decided to tackle the immigration enforcement funding on their own through what is called budget reconciliation, a cumbersome weekslong process ahead.<\/p>\n

By beginning that path, Johnson was able to unlock the broader bipartisan bill for the rest of DHS. House Republicans late Wednesday adopted a budget resolution, on a largely party-line vote, that focused on eventually providing $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations for the remainder of Trump\u2019s time in office. His term expires in January 2029.<\/p>\n

Johnson acknowledged Thursday that while he had trashed the bipartisan bill before, the new budget process ensure that the immigration money eventually will flow \u201cwith no crazy Democrat reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe threw a fit,\u201d the speaker said. \u201cWe had to.\u201d <\/p>\n

But not all Republicans were pleased. During the quick floor action Thursday, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said isolating the immigration-related money on a separate track is \u201coffensive to the men and women who serve in ICE and Border Patrol, and are serving this country every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

White House warned paychecks were at risk, again<\/p>\n

The White House had urged Congress this week to act, warning that the money Trump tapped<\/a> to temporarily pay TSA and other workers through executive actions was drying up.<\/p>\n

Immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through the flush of new cash \u2014 some $170 billion \u2014 that Congress approved as part of Trump\u2019s tax cuts bill last year. Others, including at the TSA, have had to rely on Trump\u2019s intervention through executive action to ensure their paychecks. Most of its employees are considered essential and have remained on the job.<\/p>\n

But with salaries topping a combined $1.6 billion every two weeks, Mullin said recently that the money was dwindling.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, he said in a social media post that the shutdown \u201cNEVER should have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

More than 1,000 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, according to Airlines for America, the U.S. airlines trade group that on Wednesday called on Congress to fully fund the Cabinet department.<\/p>\n

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said while workers are \u201cpleased that Congress finally stepped up to do their jobs and fund DHS, it is unacceptable that it took them this long to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said \u201cfederal employees are not political pawns. They are not leverage. They are Americans -\u2013 and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Complicated budget strategy ahead<\/p>\n

The go-it-alone strategy under the budget resolution process is the same that was used last year to approve Trump\u2019s tax cuts bill, which all Democrats opposed. <\/p>\n

With the budget resolution now adopted by the House and Senate, lawmakers will next draft the actual $70 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding bill, with voting expected in May. <\/p>\n

Trump has said he wants it on his desk by June 1.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Copyright
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