Bipartisan defections allow Congress to fund most federal agencies through Sept. 30 while leaving Homeland Security negotiations unresolved.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The House on Tuesday passed a sweeping roughly $1.2 trillion funding package to end a four-day partial government shutdown, with nearly two dozen Democrats breaking from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to advance the measure and send it to President Donald Trump, who signed the bill later in the day.
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The legislation cleared the House by a 217–214 vote, concluding work on 11 of the 12 annual appropriations bills and funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30. The remaining unresolved measure covers the Department of Homeland Security, where Democrats are seeking new limits on immigration enforcement operations.
House Speaker Mike Johnson relied on near-unanimous Republican support to pass the bill, while 21 Democrats crossed party lines to provide the margin needed for final approval, bucking Hakeem Jeffries and much of the Democratic leadership.
“We have to work through individual members’ concerns. That’s the game here. It’s a consensus-building operation. We do it every day,” Johnson said after the vote.
The bill provides full-year funding for most federal agencies and includes a short-term extension for the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 13, giving lawmakers additional time to negotiate a standalone DHS funding package. Democrats have demanded changes to enforcement practices at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before agreeing to full-year funding.
President Donald Trump weighed in ahead of the vote, urging Republicans to remain unified and warning against further delays. In a social media post Monday, Trump told lawmakers there could be “NO CHANGES at this time,” while calling a prolonged shutdown “pointless and destructive.”
“We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly,” Trump wrote. “I hope everyone will vote, YES!”
The House had previously approved a consolidated spending package, but the Senate separated the Homeland Security portion to allow for further negotiations, triggering the partial shutdown that began Saturday. Democrats have cited concerns over recent enforcement actions, including incidents in Minneapolis, as justification for withholding support for full DHS funding.
Johnson said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” that the strategy reflected the president’s direction. “It was Trump’s play call to do it this way,” he said, adding that the White House wanted to lower political tensions while keeping the government open.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said the drawn-out process was typical of major legislation. “We always work till the midnight hour to get the votes,” Scalise said. “You never start the process with everybody on board.”
The resolution of the shutdown marks a contrast with last fall’s impasse, which lasted a record 43 days and affected more federal agencies. That dispute centered on extending pandemic-era health insurance subsidies, which Democrats ultimately failed to secure.
With Tuesday’s vote, Congress has now completed funding for the bulk of federal operations for the fiscal year, including defense, transportation, education, and health programs. Negotiations over Homeland Security funding are expected to continue in the coming weeks.
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