After a 42-day standoff over immigration enforcement tactics, the Senate overnight approved a bill to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security while leaving out the department’s main immigration enforcement operations. The measure now moves to the House for a vote.
The lapse in regular DHS appropriations forced tens of thousands of employees to work without pay or to leave their posts and contributed to long lines at some airports during peak spring-break travel. Democrats withheld support for full DHS funding to press for reforms in response to concerns about tactics used by federal officers and after the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis.
The Senate package funds components such as the Transportation Security Administration and emergency response units but preserves Democratic demands for changes to immigration enforcement. Some Democrats warned that accepting a split funding approach could reduce their leverage in negotiations over those reforms.
DHS has operated without full appropriations for more than a month. Certain divisions, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have continued operating because of roughly $75 billion provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while other parts of the department, like TSA, have had staff working without pay.
TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil told lawmakers absences reached as high as 40% at some airports during the lapse and that more than 480 TSA officers resigned. “We are really concerned about our security posture and what the long-term impacts of this shutdown is going to have on the workforce and our ability to carry out this mission,” McNeil said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the Senate action, saying House Republicans oppose breaking up DHS funding and calling it “shameful” to fail to fund the agency. It remains unclear how the House will respond to the Senate-approved split package.