New two-month measure faces uncertain future in Senate while thousands of federal workers remain unpaid.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The House of Representatives approved a temporary funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security late Friday, but the ongoing shutdown is expected to continue as the proposal faces significant obstacles in the Senate, according to a report by Fox News.
The bill, backed by House Republicans and led by Speaker Mike Johnson, would fund DHS operations for approximately two months. However, Senate rules requiring 60 votes for passage mean the measure would need Democratic support that has not materialized.
“We’re not going to split apart two of the most important agencies in the government and leave them hanging like that,” Johnson said after the vote. “We just couldn’t do it.”
Johnson also criticized the Senate’s earlier proposal, which excluded funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and portions of Customs and Border Protection. “House Republicans will have no part in reopening the border and stopping illegal immigration enforcement,” he said during a television interview.
Despite the House action, Senate lawmakers have already left Washington for a two-week recess after passing their own DHS funding bill earlier Friday. That legislation differs significantly from the House version, leaving the two chambers at an impasse with no immediate path to reconciliation.
A Republican aide said the simplest resolution would be for the House to adopt the Senate bill, noting that Democratic senators have consistently opposed short-term continuing resolutions. Efforts by House leadership to urge the Senate to return for a vote on the new measure are not expected to gain traction.
House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain called on senators to reconvene. “I would suggest that the Senate does come back and at least take a vote,” she said. “That is what they were elected to do.”
Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger also urged immediate Senate action, saying lawmakers should return to Washington to consider the House-passed plan.
The shutdown has now entered its seventh week, leaving tens of thousands of DHS employees working without pay. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier Friday to provide compensation to Transportation Security Administration employees using existing funds, a move aimed at easing disruptions at airports where staffing shortages have led to long security lines.
Approximately 50,000 TSA officers have missed two paychecks during the shutdown, with more than 500 leaving their positions. While the executive action is expected to stabilize airport operations, other DHS personnel—including workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Coast Guard, and certain ICE and CBP support roles—remain unpaid.
“Anybody who shows up to work deserves to get a paycheck, and the Senate needs to come back and at least do their job,” McClain said.
Democrats criticized the House approach, arguing that rejecting the Senate compromise prolonged the shutdown. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on the House floor, “We’re here dealing with a partisan spending bill that the Senate has already indicated is dead on arrival. And so Republicans have taken the decision to own this shutdown decisively. There is no doubt.”
The House-passed measure provides a temporary extension of funding without including policy changes sought by Democrats, such as restrictions on immigration enforcement practices.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated that those proposals are unlikely to be addressed. “I mean, I think that ship has sailed, and they kind of kissed that opportunity goodbye by failing to provide funding for those agencies,” he said.
With both chambers now in recess and no agreement in place, the DHS shutdown is expected to continue, leaving federal operations and employee compensation unresolved as negotiations remain stalled.
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