President Donald Trump signed legislation funding most of the US Department of Homeland Security on April 30, 2026, ending a 75-day partial shutdown of the department. The House approved the Senate-passed measure by voice vote, allowing routine funding to resume for agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Coast Guard and Secret Service.
The agreement excluded new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, leaving the central dispute behind the shutdown unresolved. Immigration operations had continued largely through separate money approved previously, while other parts of the department relied on temporary executive action to cover wages. The new law funds the included agencies through September 30, the end of the financial year.
DHS had lacked routine appropriations since February 14. Its roughly 260,000 employees faced repeated uncertainty over furloughs and missed pay. Most essential personnel continued working, but pressure increased as temporary salary resources diminished. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that the department was spending a combined $1.6 billion on salaries every two weeks and that emergency money would soon be exhausted.
The shutdown affected airport screening especially visibly. Travellers faced long lines, and the airline trade group Airlines for America said more than 1,000 TSA officers had quit after the lapse began. Union leader Everett Kelley welcomed the restoration of funds but said federal employees should not be used as leverage in political disputes.
The standoff followed fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents during protests against immigration actions in Minneapolis. Democrats refused to finance ICE and the Border Patrol without operational changes. Republicans rejected a proposal to fund the remaining DHS agencies while providing no immigration-enforcement money. The Senate ultimately approved a bipartisan package without those funds, but it remained stalled in the House for about a month.
Republican leaders broke the impasse by moving immigration funding into the budget-reconciliation process. The House and Senate adopted a budget resolution intended to support a later proposal for $70 billion in immigration and deportation operations through the remainder of Trump’s term in 2029. That separate path enabled Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the broader DHS measure forward, despite having criticised it earlier.
Some Republicans objected to splitting the department’s funding. Representative Chip Roy said the approach slighted ICE and Border Patrol personnel. Democrats, meanwhile, emphasised that the bipartisan bill had been available for more than 70 days. Trump’s swift signature ended the longest shutdown of a single federal agency, but lawmakers still faced another fight over immigration enforcement. The restored appropriations removed the immediate payroll threat.
