A bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security is headed to President Donald Trump’s desk after the House passed legislation already approved by the Senate.
The measure funds the agency but excludes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Democrats have refused to support funding for those agencies without reforms. They have called for agents to operate without masks, display identification and avoid enforcement actions near “sensitive locations” such as hospitals and schools.
The dispute has led to a partial shutdown that has gone on since mid-February.
Republicans are expected to pursue separate legislation to fund ICE and CBP without Democratic support.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | ICE acting director Todd Lyons will resign at end of May, DHS says
During the shutdown, employees across multiple agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, went without pay for weeks until President Donald Trump ordered funds from his domestic policy bill be used to compensate them. However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned those funds were running short, saying TSA employees could again go without paychecks if Congress did not act by early May.
That warning appeared to add urgency as the summer travel season approaches. During the shutdown, travelers faced long wait times as employees called out or quit because they were unpaid, with some saying they could not afford things like child care.
TSA AFGE union representative Johnny Jones said more than 1,000 of his colleagues left their jobs in recent months because of funding disputes in Washington.
