Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to members of the media on Oct. 7, 2025. The GOP leaders said Wednesday they have found a path forward to end the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Republican leaders in the Senate and House have revived a previously stalled proposal to finance the Department of Homeland Security following a 47-day funding gap.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House plans to consider a Senate-approved measure to fund most of the DHS, excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, up to the end of September.
Republicans are also seeking to secure funding for ICE and Border Patrol for three years through a budget reconciliation bill that would not require Democratic support.
“By adopting this two-pronged strategy, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, ensure all federal workers receive their pay, and specifically allocate funds for immigration enforcement and border security for the upcoming three years to guarantee uninterrupted law enforcement activities,” Thune and Johnson stated.
This agreement arrives nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed a similar plan, opting instead for a 60-day temporary funding bill for the entire DHS, which faced strong Democratic opposition in the Senate.
Johnson initially dismissed the agreement as a “joke,” and President Trump withheld public endorsement, having previously resisted any plan that excluded his proposed federal election overhaul, the Save America Act.
“I think any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it,” Trump told reporters last week.
Democrats welcomed the agreement, consistent with their stance against additional ICE funding without reforms, following incidents where immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. However, the deal lacks the policy changes Democrats seek, such as banning masks for immigration officers and requiring judicial warrants for home entries.
“For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., noted in a Wednesday statement. “Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered.”
Trump appeared to support the renewed plan earlier Wednesday, posting on social media his desire for a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement by June 1.
“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump wrote.
Despite the shutdown, ICE operations have been minimally affected as Republican lawmakers secured $75 billion for ICE through a previous budget reconciliation bill.
While Congress is on a two-week recess, both chambers could potentially approve funding for the entire DHS, excluding ICE and CBP, as early as Thursday using a unanimous consent procedure, which bypasses formal voting provided no member objects.
Even during recess, this process can be unpredictable, particularly in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose deals that do not fully fund DHS.
“Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, posted on X. “If that’s the vote, I’m a NO.”
If a member objects, it could necessitate waiting for another vote until all members return from recess.
Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
