House Republicans passed a short-term funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security late Friday, sending the measure to the Senate where it faces an uphill battle as the partial government shutdown approaches record length.
The vote was 213-203, largely along party lines. Three Democrats — Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Henry Cuellar of Texas — crossed party lines to support the two-month funding extension. More than a dozen lawmakers did not vote.
The House-passed DHS measure would fund the department through May, keeping it operational while broader immigration funding negotiations continue. The department has been operating without full-year appropriations since the funding lapse began on Feb. 14.
What the Left Is Saying
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of prioritizing ideology over functioning government. "House Republicans have decided that they would rather inconvenience you, create chaos for you and for your families so that they can continue to jam their extreme right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people so they can continue to spend billions of dollars for ICE to brutalize and kill American citizens," Jeffries said Friday.
Senate Democrats have filibustered GOP-authored DHS legislation that includes immigration funding for the past six weeks. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has said Democrats will continue fighting to ensure Trump's immigration operations do not receive additional funding without what he called serious reform.
What the Right Is Saying
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Fox News that Republicans would use the eight-week extension to negotiate with Democrats on reforms. "In those eight weeks, we will figure this out with Democrats and figure out a couple of reforms or whatever they need to make sure that we do this right, but we are going to protect the homeland," Johnson said Friday evening. "It's the most important and most basic function of Congress, and Democrats don't want to do that."
The National Border Patrol Council endorsed the House bill late Friday, arguing the Senate's failure to fund all of DHS is "completely unacceptable and should not stand."
President Donald Trump criticized the Senate-passed agreement in an interview Friday. "It wasn't good. It wasn't appropriate," Trump said. "You can't have a bill that's not going to fund ICE."
What the Numbers Show
The vote was 213-203, with three Democrats joining Republicans. More than a dozen lawmakers did not vote.
The shutdown began Feb. 14, making it 42 days as of the House vote — on track to become the longest federal shutdown in history. Both chambers are scheduled to leave Washington for an Easter recess without resolving the funding standoff.
The House bill funds DHS through early May. TSA workers, who have been working without pay since the shutdown began, are expected to receive their first full paychecks Monday after Trump signed an executive order directing DHS to cover their salaries using money from his 2025 tax bill.
The Bottom Line
The House-passed two-month extension now goes to the Senate, where Democrats have repeatedly blocked GOP funding bills that include immigration provisions. With Congress leaving for Easter recess, the Senate will need to act quickly or the shutdown will become the longest in U.S. history.
Speaker Johnson acknowledged the difficulty of funding ICE and Border Patrol through a separate budget reconciliation package, calling it "a very difficult task" and "a high-risk gamble." The White House and congressional Republicans must decide whether to accept a shorter-term extension without their full immigration enforcement ask or risk the political fallout of an extended shutdown.
What to watch: Whether Senate Democrats will allow a floor vote on the House measure, and whether any bipartisan compromise emerges before the May funding deadline.