The longest shutdown in the history of the Department of Homeland Security ended Thursday after President Trump signed a bipartisan funding bill, ending a 76-day lapse in appropriations that had crippled operations across the department.
The deal, which cleared the House by voice vote earlier in the day, provides funding through the end of the fiscal year for 20 DHS agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Secret Service. The Senate had advanced the measure a month earlier, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) initially resisted, insisting on separate funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Johnson and other House Republicans had vowed to block the legislation until a dedicated funding package for those two agencies was approved. But mounting pressure from the White House, the Senate, and fellow lawmakers amid growing funding shortages and staffing crises at DHS forced Johnson to relent. The two agencies, however, are already funded through Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed earlier this year.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) welcomed the end of the shutdown, calling the delay “unnecessary pain for millions of Americans.” Democrats had opposed funding ICE and Border Patrol amid the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown and after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents in Minnesota. Party leaders demanded key reforms, including a mask ban, judicial warrant reform, and a universal code of conduct for agents.
House Republicans are now working to enact tens of billions of dollars to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years through a reconciliation process that would bypass the Senate's filibuster requirement. This approach would allow Republicans to pass the funding without Democratic support, a strategy that has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats who argue it sidesteps accountability.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who served as a Republican senator from Oklahoma when the shutdown began, celebrated the funding package on social media, calling the 76-day closure “the longest government shutdown in history.” Mullin commended House Republicans for their push to separately fund ICE and Border Patrol through reconciliation, saying it would prevent “liberals… from playing games with federal law enforcement funding.”
“To be clear, this Democrat shutdown NEVER should have happened,” Mullin wrote. He thanked DHS employees who “continued to protect the homeland every single day without a guaranteed paycheck,” adding that “President Trump and I are very grateful to be in the fight with you to Make America Safe Again.”
The shutdown's end comes amid broader tensions over immigration enforcement and federal funding. The Trump administration has faced scrutiny over its handling of immigration policies, including a recent retribution campaign that has drawn both praise and criticism. Meanwhile, the standoff over ICE and Border Patrol funding underscores the deep partisan divide on immigration, with Democrats demanding accountability and Republicans pushing for unfettered enforcement resources.
The funding package does not address the ongoing debate over DHS reform, including calls for a reinstatement of staff who criticized the administration. As the reconciliation process moves forward, the fight over the future of immigration enforcement is likely to intensify.
