US House passes $1.2tn funding bill, ending partial government shutdown | House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding measure on Tuesday that would end a partial government shutdown and give Democrats time to negotiate with the White House and Republican leaders of Congress over restrictions on Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
The Republican-controlled House approved the $1.2 trillion appropriations measure by a vote of 217 to 214; All but 21 Republicans voted in favor, and all but 21 Democrats voted against. Trump is expected to sign it, ending the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday and halted many operations in departments such as defense, health and human services, labor and transportation.
The funding cut occurred after Democrats refused to approve continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, amid the Trump administration stepping up enforcement against immigrants in the city.
Democrats have called for a set of guardrails to be imposed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Its terms include federal agents wearing body cameras, stopping wearing masks, complying with a code of conduct and obtaining arrest warrants for people in the country illegally.
“What Democrats want is a lot of common sense,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said early Tuesday.
Democrats initially blocked passage of the spending package in the Senate last week, prompting the White House to accept a deal that would fund DHS for two weeks while the remaining departments would be allowed spending through September, when fiscal 2026 ends.
In a statement following the vote, Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said the changes his party is demanding “should be part of the full-year appropriations bill” for DHS.
“Americans from every corner of the country are demanding accountability and an end to the lawless, paramilitary tactics ICE uses in our communities. Without bold, meaningful change, there is no credible path forward for next week’s Department of Homeland Security funding bill,” Jeffries said.
The prospects for reaching bipartisan agreement on the agents’ conduct remain uncertain. On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that all federal agents in Minneapolis will immediately begin wearing body cameras, with plans to expand their use nationwide.
But Schumer argued the policy wasn’t good enough to assuage Democrats’ anger over the killings in Minnesota’s largest city and allegations of brutal tactics and racial profiling against U.S. citizens by ICE agents.
“So why just Minneapolis? This policy, which is the right policy, should be nationwide. There’s no reason to delay this,” Schumer said.
“Most importantly, executive actions alone will never be enough for the American people. We need to pass legislation. We know how weird Donald Trump is. One day he says something, the next day he retracts it.”
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, opposed two Democratic demands, saying at a news conference Tuesday that he opposed federal agents issuing arrest warrants.
“Imagine having to go through a judicial arrest warrant, an additional detention process, to arrest people who we know are here illegally. How long does that take? We don’t have enough judges. We don’t have enough time,” the speaker said.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Johnson said Democrats’ demands that ICE agents stop wearing masks and have visible ID would “create more danger” and said he didn’t think Trump would support it.
