By Ginika Igboke
President Donald Trump signed legislation on Feb. 3 to end a four-day partial government shutdown, just hours after the U.S. House of Representatives approved the measure in a narrow 217–214 vote.
Twenty-one Republicans voted against the Senate-passed package, while 21 Democrats broke with their party to support it.
The bill provides full-year funding through the end of the fiscal year for five major areas of the federal government and extends funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until Feb. 13. Despite clearing Congress, the legislation faced strong opposition from Democrats, including party leadership.
Before signing the bill in the Oval Office, Trump described it as “a fiscally responsible package that actually cuts wasteful federal spending while supporting critical programs for the safety, security, and prosperity of the American people.”
With the shutdown now resolved, lawmakers have less than two weeks to negotiate a longer-term funding agreement for DHS.
The legislation funds the departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development for the remainder of the fiscal year. Democrats have insisted that reforms to DHS and its immigration enforcement agencies be enacted before they support full-year funding for the department. Many House Democrats, including leaders, also opposed even a temporary DHS funding extension without those changes.
Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) strongly criticized the bill during a Feb. 2 hearing that advanced the measure to the House floor.
“I will not vote for business as usual while masked agents break into people’s homes without a judicial warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” McGovern said, citing concerns over the use of administrative warrants instead of court-issued judicial warrants.
One Democrat, however, broke ranks. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said she would support the package, emphasizing that it included five full-year funding bills backed by Democrats.
“I will support this package,” DeLauro said, arguing that extending DHS funding preserves leverage to push for reforms in a future full-year DHS funding bill. Without the extension, she said, Democrats would lose the ability to apply meaningful pressure for changes.
McGovern reiterated his opposition after the hearing, saying he could not support additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement without stronger safeguards in place.
The bill also encountered resistance from some Republicans who objected to the absence of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voter identification in federal elections.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) initially opposed the measure but later reversed her position, saying she had been told Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) would bring the bill to the Senate floor in a way that would force opponents to conduct a so-called “standing filibuster” rather than block it through procedural objections.
Thune said Tuesday that Republicans would discuss using the standing filibuster approach, which would require continuous debate on the Senate floor. His spokesperson, Ryan Wrasse, said Thune would not make such a decision without full consultation with the Republican conference.
Original article
Comments