WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional lawmakers voted Thursday to provide funding for most Department of Homeland Security operations following weeks of political gridlock, bringing the historic agency shutdown to a close with bipartisan legislation now heading to President Donald Trump.
White House officials had issued warnings that temporary funding measures Trump had used to maintain Transportation Security Administration operations and other critical agency functions were nearing depletion, raising concerns about potential airport service interruptions.
The Department of Homeland Security had operated without standard funding authorization since February 14, creating financial difficulties for agency employees, although much of Trump’s immigration policy priorities at the center of the funding dispute continue to receive separate financial support.
“It is about damn time,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who proposed the bill more than two months ago.
Lawmakers approved the legislation through a swift voice vote rather than conducting a formal recorded vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrow Republican majority has faced repeated legislative obstacles, with party members engaged in internal disagreements across multiple policy areas, including this homeland security funding debate. Despite the Senate’s unanimous approval of the bipartisan measure one month earlier, the legislation remained stalled in the House chamber.
