# Congress ends record DHS shutdown with partial funding deal  
**Published:** 2026-04-30T18:42:40.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/04/30/repub/three-shutdowns-later-congress-finishes-funding-the-government-with-passage-of-dhs-bill/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/congress-ends-record-dhs-shutdown-with-partial-funding-deal

President Donald Trump signed legislation Thursday that will fund most of the Department of Homeland Security for the next five months, marking the end of [a record 75-day shutdown](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/04/30/repub/three-shutdowns-later-congress-finishes-funding-the-government-with-passage-of-dhs-bill/) that stalled paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal employees.

The House passed the DHS appropriations bill by voice vote Thursday, with Trump signing it into law the same day. The funding package excludes Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, agencies that became the flashpoint in a bitter congressional standoff.

The shutdown, which began Feb. 14, represented the third funding lapse in the past year. It left employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard and other critical agencies working without regular paychecks for more than two months. [More than 1,000 TSA officers quit during the shutdown](https://nebraska.tv/news/nation-world/tsa-staffing-crisis-deepens-as-dhs-funding-nears-cutoff-transportation-security-administration-government-shutdown-air-travel-airport-security-world-cup) amid staffing shortages.

"It could have been done 76 days ago," said Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro, ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. "I'll take it today."

Democrats had pushed for restrictions on federal immigration agents following [the January shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/04/30/repub/three-shutdowns-later-congress-finishes-funding-the-government-with-passage-of-dhs-bill/) by immigration enforcement officers. Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress rejected these demands, choosing instead to fund ICE and Border Patrol through a separate process.

Republicans plan to use budget reconciliation, a parliamentary maneuver allowing certain spending bills to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes typically required. [The Senate passed a budget resolution April 23 that directs committees to draft legislation providing up to $140 billion in funding for ICE and Border Patrol for 3.5 years](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/28/senate-passes-budget-resolution-that-includes-funding-for-ice-and-defense/).

The House passed the same budget framework Wednesday, unlocking the reconciliation process. Republicans are working toward a June 1 deadline set by President Trump to send immigration enforcement funding to his desk, a timeline that could keep portions of DHS unfunded for several more weeks.

This marks the second government shutdown involving DHS in less than a year, reflecting deepening partisan divisions over immigration policy and the appropriations process itself.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/04/30/repub/three-shutdowns-later-congress-finishes-funding-the-government-with-passage-of-dhs-bill/)
- [Nebraska.tv reporting on TSA staffing crisis during shutdown](https://nebraska.tv/news/nation-world/tsa-staffing-crisis-deepens-as-dhs-funding-nears-cutoff-transportation-security-administration-government-shutdown-air-travel-airport-security-world-cup)
- [Ballotpedia News on Senate budget resolution for ICE and Border Patrol funding](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/28/senate-passes-budget-resolution-that-includes-funding-for-ice-and-defense/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/04/30/repub/three-shutdowns-later-congress-finishes-funding-the-government-with-passage-of-dhs-bill/.