The House passed another bill to fund DHS (Department of Homeland Security) through fiscal year 2026 on Thursday, March 5. This bill marks the second counteroffer from the Trump administration to the Democrats’ list of ten ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) reform demands. With a slight Republican majority, the bill seemed likely to pass – and the extra four Democrats who joined the GOP certainly didn’t hurt.
The House passed one full-year funding deal for DHS before Renée Good and Alex Pretti were shot by federal agents in Minneapolis. The Senate vote, however, came after. Whether it would have passed in the upper chamber or not, Democrats issued a list of demands and refused to pass any DHS spending until those demands are met. Thus began the partial shutdown on February 14.
Now the new deal heads to the Senate. But while it passed easily and quickly through the House – even garnering the support of some Democrats – it would need 60 votes in the Senate to pass. With a 53-47 GOP majority, that means seven Democrats accepting this compromise, and that assumes Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine don’t repeat their performance on the previous attempt and oppose it.
The final House vote was 221-209. Sen. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) was the only Republican not to support the bill, and he didn’t vote at all. Also not voting was Democrat Johnathan Jackson of Illinois. Four Democrats – North Carolina’s Donald G. Davis, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Maine’s Jared Golden, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington – joined the GOP in support of the funding.
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