WASHINGTON, D.C. — Much of the federal government is now reopened after President Donald Trump signed a sweeping spending package, to keep key departments — including Defense, Transportation, State and Treasury — up and running following, into law.
The partial shutdown began late Friday after the Senate made changes to pass the package. Tuesday afternoon, the multi-bill package cleared its final major hurdle by passing the U.S. House after the three-day partial shutdown. The measure gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a two-week funding extension.
Until late Monday — and even during a procedural vote Tuesday afternoon — the spending measure’s future appeared uncertain. A handful of Republicans were holding their support for the plan, threatening to derail it unless it included a nationwide voter ID requirement. By late Tuesday afternoon, that effort was abandoned and the bill advanced.
While the package reopens the government, it sets up another looming deadline for Homeland Security — an agency that oversees TSA, FEMA and immigration enforcement.
Negotiators have less than two weeks to resolve sharp disagreements over immigration policy, which has become the focal point of DHS funding. Democrats are pushing for changes to ICE — including an end to roving patrols and limits on mask use by agents.
“Time and time again, what we hear from our colleagues is we have to make changes, we have to reform DHS. They were given unlimited amounts of money by House Republicans,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “And we need to have meaningful reforms because they are unchecked. They have proven time and time again unworthy of our trust and unworthy of the benefit of the doubt.”
Democrats say without major reforms, long-term DHS funding remains at risk. But House Republicans say using funding for a critical department as leverage is wrong.
“We did have the bodycams and the training in our bill that, unfortunately, the Democrat leadership thought it was a good idea to vote it down because they wanted to symbolically act as if they were doing something to improve the situation,” said Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa. “Now they’re calling for silly things like no masks. I mean, the only reason that they’re wearing masks, it’s not because they want to — it’s for their own protection, the protection of their families.”
“They’re using it for politics. It’s an election year. There’s going to be politics,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. “Clearly, the Democratic base is very angry about ICE. I think that there’s great agreement across the country that people want to see those that broke the country’s laws and come here illegally removed from the country. The question is really about tactics.”
The Department of Homeland Security oversees other agencies such as TSA, FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, and several others. If negotiators fail to reach a deal by the end of next week and funding is paused, there could be implications across the country.
“It doesn’t make any sense to, you know, to really put our citizens at peril by not funding the Department of Homeland Security,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa. “It’s a whole lot more than ICE. It’s FEMA that deals with emergencies. It’s the Coast Guard. You know, it could be floods, could be tornadoes, it could be hurricanes in the future.”
This week, Democrats are doubling down on their demands to reform DHS and its leadership, starting with Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Under her leadership, Department of Homeland Security has killed a number of Americans. She needs to resign or she needs to be fired, and if not, impeachment proceedings need to proceed,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.
Congressman Langworthy is urging negotiators to find common ground, build consensus and pass full-year appropriations for DHS.
“DHS, obviously, there’s a lot of disagreement. We have to have a final product that can get 60 votes in the Senate. We’re not there,” Langworthy said. “If there are some common sense reforms we can get to, we can find middle ground. It’s going to require the White House to negotiate with Democrats in the Senate and hopefully this time include House Democrats as well, so that we have a product that can pass both floors readily.”
Just yesterday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced her department would immediately issue body cameras to federal officers in Minneapolis, following two deadly shootings involving immigration agents. The department says the program will expand nationwide, as funding allows.
