Washington — The House on Thursday unanimously approved a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, a move that will soon end the 76-day shutdown that has left many critical agencies struggling to maintain operations and pay employees.
The chamber approved the bill by voice vote Thursday afternoon with little fanfare, a sign that lawmakers were finally ready to put the impasse behind them. The House’s action send the legislation to President Trump’s desk, and the shutdown will end once he signs the bill into law.
The department has been shut down since Feb. 14, making it the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. Democrats have objected to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, the two agencies under DHS that have led the charge on enforcing Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The Senate unanimously passed legislation to fund the rest of DHS last month. But House Republicans rejected that plan, arguing that the bill would be caving to Democratic demands to defund the president’s immigration agenda.
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