The House on Tuesday gave its final approval to a package of spending bills to fully fund government programs for the rest of the 2026 fiscal year, ending a partial government shutdown that ran through the weekend. The lower chamber narrowly passed the appropriations legislation on a 217-214 vote, concurring with the Senate's move to freeze funds for the Department of Homeland Security as Democrats demand extensive reforms to federal immigration enforcement operations.
The package bundles together budget figures for federal programs across five separate bills while extending spending limits for DHS for two weeks in a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution. This temporary funding mechanism was designed to provide lawmakers additional time for negotiations on the contentious homeland security budget.
The partial government shutdown began over the weekend due to the absence of a final budget for several federal agencies, including the Pentagon and the Labor Department. The House, which was out of Washington last week, was unable to return in time to completely sidestep the shutdown. The successful passage of the appropriations package brings the brief shutdown to an end.
Senate Democrats last week successfully pushed Republicans into peeling off Homeland Security funding from the broader appropriations package. The agency faces fresh scrutiny after federal agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis late last month, prompting Democratic demands for comprehensive reforms to immigration enforcement operations.
Democrats have demanded appropriators write extensive reforms into the Homeland Security budget, including specific language barring immigration officers from wearing masks during operations and requiring them to secure judicial warrants before forcibly entering people's homes. These proposed reforms represent a direct response to concerns about federal immigration enforcement tactics and accountability measures.
The continuing resolution passed by the House on Tuesday represents an effort to buy time for negotiations between the parties on these contentious issues. However, the temporary nature of the funding mechanism sets up another potential funding crisis in two weeks if lawmakers cannot reach agreement on the reforms demanded by Democrats.
House Republican leaders expressed frustration with what they characterized as Democratic gamesmanship with federal funding. Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized his colleagues across the aisle for inserting uncertainty into the appropriations process, which he said had been on a "glide path" to passing the House before last week.
"Of course, the Democrats could not miss an opportunity to try to shut down the government again," Johnson said. "Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats are playing games with government funding." The House speaker added that Republicans and the White House had previously agreed "in good faith" to handle the homeland security funding separately from the broader package.
The narrow 217-214 vote margin highlights the continued partisan divisions in Congress over government funding and immigration policy. The vote breakdown suggests that virtually all Democrats supported the measure while Republicans were split, with some members potentially opposing the temporary funding arrangement or the broader package structure.
The successful passage of the spending package ensures that most federal agencies will continue operating with full funding through the remainder of fiscal year 2026. This includes critical departments such as Defense, Labor, and other agencies that had been operating under the threat of shutdown. However, the Department of Homeland Security remains in limbo with only two weeks of funding guaranteed.
The controversy surrounding DHS funding reflects broader tensions over immigration enforcement policies and federal law enforcement accountability. The shooting incident in Minneapolis that prompted Democratic reform demands represents the second such case involving a U.S. citizen, raising questions about federal agents' use of force and operational procedures.
Looking ahead, lawmakers face a compressed timeline to negotiate the homeland security funding and reform package. The two-week continuing resolution provides limited time for substantive negotiations on what Democrats have described as a "laundry list" of reforms to federal immigration enforcement operations.
The outcome of these negotiations will have implications beyond just funding levels, potentially affecting how federal immigration enforcement is conducted and what oversight mechanisms are put in place. The reforms being demanded by Democrats could represent significant changes to how DHS and its component agencies operate in communities across the country.
The temporary nature of the current resolution ensures that Congress will face another potential funding crisis in mid-February if negotiations fail to produce a compromise acceptable to both parties. This dynamic continues the pattern of short-term funding extensions and last-minute negotiations that has characterized much of the congressional appropriations process in recent years.