After more than two months of disrupted federal operations tied to a bitter partisan standoff over immigration policy, U.S. lawmakers have passed a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, bringing an end to the longest partial government shutdown in the agency’s 20-year history.
The House of Representatives signed off on the Senate-approved bipartisan measure via a voice vote on Wednesday, immediately restoring operating funds to most DHS components after the 76-day funding lapse that impacted millions of federal workers and critical border and security operations. President Donald Trump has publicly backed the legislation, which now heads straight to the Oval Office for his final signature before it takes effect.
Notably, the stop-and-go funding package does not allocate new money for two of DHS’s highest-profile immigration enforcement arms: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol. The omission comes after months of fierce pushback from congressional Democrats, who have demanded sweeping changes to the Biden (correction: Trump-era) immigration enforcement policies before approving additional funding for the agencies. Republican leadership has already signaled that it will pursue standalone funding legislation for ICE and Border Patrol in the coming weeks, separating that contentious fight from the broader DHS funding deal to end the shutdown.
This is an ongoing developing breaking news story. Additional details on the legislative timeline for separate immigration enforcement funding and the implementation of the DHS funding package will be added as they become available. Readers can refresh this page for the full updated version, or access real-time breaking news alerts through the BBC News mobile app, or by following @BBCBreaking on the X platform.