Congress Ends DHS Shutdown, Reopens Most Operations While Leaving ICE Funding Dispute Unresolved

Congress ended a record-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Thursday, approving a Senate-passed bill that reopened most DHS operations while excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The House approved the measure by voice vote and sent it to President Donald Trump for signature, with NBC News describing the bill as ending “the record 75-day shutdown” and funding DHS agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service through the end of September.

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Trump signed the legislation Thursday afternoon, and the Christian Science Monitor reported that the bill ended a “record 76-day partial government shutdown” that included agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard.

The BBC said the House vote “reopens DHS but does not provide funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP),” leaving the immigration enforcement dispute unresolved.

The Courrier international account framed the outcome as Congress ending “the country’s second shutdown in four months,” while “the ‘standoff’ over ICE continues,” and it said the funding for the Department of Homeland Security—on which ICE depends—was set to be renegotiated over the next two weeks.

Multiple outlets tied the shutdown’s end to deadlines and payroll fears, including the Christian Science Monitor’s account that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned temporary funding for pay would run out during the first week of May.

Even as the shutdown ended, the BBC reported that “the two agencies would now get additional funding in another bill,” and Politico said Republicans would turn to “enacting tens of billions of dollars for Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a party-line package.”

The shutdown was sparked by a standoff over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy, with the BBC saying the partial shutdown was “sparked by a standoff over President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement strategy.”

The BBC reported that Democrats refused to fund ICE and CBP without reforms after “two deadly shootings in Minnesota involving federal immigration officers,” while Republicans rejected those demands and pushed for full funding for ICE and CBP.

Al Jazeera

NBC News described Democrats forcing a DHS shutdown on Feb. 14 after Republicans rejected demands to make reforms to immigration enforcement tactics, including “mandating body cameras and limiting raids in sensitive locations such as schools and hospitals.”

Courrier international also tied the shutdown to “political tensions surrounding immigration enforcement (ICE), after the deaths of two Americans killed by federal agents in Minneapolis,” and it said the standoff over ICE reform “sparked the shutdown.”

The Al Jazeera account said the impasse was “spurred, in part, by the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which resulted in the killing of two US citizens in January,” and it described a Feb. 4 list of demands from Democratic leaders to reform ICE.

Those demands included “banning ICE agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities,” “prohibiting racial profiling,” and “ending immigration raids on ‘sensitive locations’ like schools and churches.”

The Christian Science Monitor added that the House passed a bill to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP, noting that ICE and CBP “already have funding through the Republicans’ tax and spending bill last year.”

As Congress moved to end the shutdown, both parties and key lawmakers framed the vote in sharply different terms, with Democrats emphasizing accountability and Republicans emphasizing funding certainty.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters, “We’re not going to have lines at TSA. Everybody will get their paychecks now,” according to NBC News, while Politico quoted Johnson saying, “Democrats got absolutely nothing for their political charades and shenanigans.”

The BBC reported that Johnson had resisted bringing the Senate-passed bill to a vote for weeks, calling it inadequate and insisting that immigration enforcement be fully funded, and it also quoted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin celebrating the end of the shutdown on X with “To be clear, this Democrat shutdown NEVER should have happened.”

Democrats criticized the delay and the exclusion of immigration enforcement funding, with the Christian Science Monitor noting that Republicans planned to deal with ICE and CBP in a separate budget bill while Democrats used the funding impasse to press for reforms.

The Providence Journal quoted Sen. Chuck Schumer saying, “It’s about time. @SpeakerJohnson just passed the bill that Senate Democrats and Republicans passed unanimously 36 DAYS AGO to pay TSA, FEMA, and CISA employees through the fiscal year,” and it also included the line “Over a month of unnecessary pain for millions of Americans brought to you by the @HouseGOP.”

The Courrier international account said “Sharp divisions” within the Democratic Party, describing arguments that the party should use the partial shutdown as leverage, and it said “Many Democrats had also shown reluctance” to vote for short-term funding for DHS.

On the Republican side, Politico quoted Rep. Chip Roy saying, “The idea that we’re isolating Border Patrol and isolating ICE is offensive to the men and women who serve,” while Courrier international described Republican opposition to renegotiating Homeland Security budget funding, including a count of “21 Republicans” who refused to renegotiate.

While all the outlets described Congress ending the DHS shutdown without funding ICE and CBP in the immediate bill, they diverged in what they highlighted and how they characterized the political dynamics.

The BBC emphasized the operational impact and the funding mechanics, saying the DHS had continued to run “without routine funds since 14 February,” leading to “major disruptions and hours-long wait times at airports across the US,” and it described the House vote as clearing the funding deadlock so “security officers at checkpoints can now get paid in time.”

Al Jazeera

NPR similarly focused on the reform demands, saying Democrats refused to back funding for many immigration functions in an effort to secure reforms “including body-worn cameras and broad restrictions on face coverings,” and it described Johnson’s earlier refusal to bring the Senate proposal to a vote as “a ‘joke’.”

Politico, by contrast, foregrounded the legislative strategy and internal party conflict, describing how Republicans “jump-started the process this week with the adoption of a framework unlocking special budget power to skirt the Senate filibuster,” and it quoted Sen. Chris Murphy saying it was “perfectly clear” Republicans were “willing to do anything in order to preserve Trump’s right to run a completely out-of-control illegal agency.”

The Guardian framed the outcome as a pause in a broader confrontation, saying the vote “leaves the fiercest battle over Trump’s deportation agenda for another day,” and it reported that the House vote came after “days of mounting pressure” on Mike Johnson.

The Christian Science Monitor emphasized the procedural timing and other congressional business, saying Congress passed “a flurry of items” ahead of a one-week recess and describing the House voice vote and the record 76-day shutdown.

Courrier international, meanwhile, placed the shutdown in a broader narrative of repeated government shutdowns, stating it was “the country’s second shutdown in four months,” and it described the bill as approving “only five of six appropriations,” with DHS funding set to be renegotiated.

Even with DHS reopened, the next phase of the dispute centered on how Republicans would fund ICE and Border Patrol and whether Democrats would accept any accompanying guardrails.

“US House votes to end record shutdown over immigration enforcement US lawmakers have voted to end a 76-day partial government shutdown sparked by a standoff over President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement strategy”

BBC

Multiple outlets said Republicans would pursue additional funding through a separate process, with NBC News stating that Republicans will try “in the coming weeks to keep them funded for the rest of Trump’s term,” while the BBC said “the two agencies would now get additional funding in another bill.”

BBC

Politico described the plan as a party-line package and said the process would use budget power to “skirt the Senate filibuster,” while the Courrier international account said the leaders now have “about ten days to reach an agreement imposing new restrictions on immigration agents.”

The Providence Journal said the House cleared a budget blueprint on the night of Wednesday, April 29, to funnel $70 billion to ICE and Border Patrol, and it quoted Rep. Mike Flood warning, “When you talk to Markwayne Mullin ... he's pulling the fire alarm.”

The Guardian also pointed to the future, saying the deeper confrontation over Trump’s hardline immigration program “has merely been postponed until the summer,” and it quoted Lindsey Graham posting on X: “To finish the job, Senate and House Republicans must pass the reconciliation.”

On the operational side, the shutdown’s consequences were described in concrete terms: the BBC said DHS had continued to run without routine funds since Feb. 14, causing “hours-long wait times at airports across the US,” and the Guardian reported that “More than 1,000 TSA officers have reportedly resigned since the shutdown began in February.”

The Navy Times account added that Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday told lawmakers on Tuesday that Coast Guard members and civilians were facing “severe hardship” because of uncertainty about paychecks, and it said electricity bills for the Coast Guard’s “6,000 family housing units” were among those that could not be paid.