Government Shutdown To End As House Sends Spending Package To Trump

The House voted to end the government shutdown on Tuesday in a 217 to 214 bipartisan vote, and the appropriations bills will head to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

The spending package returned to the House after the White House and Senate Democrats agreed to split Department of Homeland Security funding from the rest of the broader legislation. Lawmakers instead opted for a continuing resolution to fund DHS while immigration enforcement policies remain under debate. The CR for DHS is set to expire on Feb. 13, while the other bills would fund the federal government through September.

The House had already passed the spending bills, but they were punted back to the chamber after pressure from Senate Democrats for the DHS split following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.

Some Republican lawmakers wanted the SAVE Act, a bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, inserted into the package to send it back to the Senate.

The proposal has already passed the House, but it has not progressed in the Senate, with GOP House lawmakers calling on Senate Rules Committee Chair Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to get the process started.

However, Trump said Monday that there should be no changes to the spending package the Senate approved on Friday.

“I am working hard with Speaker Johnson to get the current funding deal, which passed in the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it into Law, IMMEDIATELY!” Trump posted to Truth Social at the time.

“There can be NO CHANGES at this time. We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!” He continued.

As for the DHS debate, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expects tension in Washington.

“Next week and the week after will be intense. The two sides are pretty far apart,” Johnson (R-LA) told Punchbowl News on Tuesday.

Democrats have a long list of demands that they want for ICE and CBP to limit their current immigration enforcement tactics, including the end of masking for agents.

“No more anonymous agents. No more secret operatives,” Schumer said last week.

“These are common-sense reforms – ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” he added.