Senate approves DHS funding deal, but there will be a 48-hour government shutdown
To become law, the bill will have to go back through the House, which will reconvene on Monday.
Congressional leaders on Capitol Hill/ Drew Angerer.
The Senate approved an appropriations package to avoid the government shutdown. As modifications were made to the version already approved by the House of Representatives, the bill must return there for final approval. However, since the House will be back in session next Monday, there will be a 48-hour adjournment.
The vote ended with 71 senators in favor and 29 against, comfortably surpassing the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
In recent weeks, Congress approved almost all of the appropriations needed to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, as occurred in November. However, controversy over the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) complicated Democratic votes in the Senate.
After a few days of negotiations, the White House agreed with the Democratic leadership on a temporary funding of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which will last two weeks and expire in mid-February.
The agreement includes that DHS funding is separate from the rest of the approved appropriations: defense, transportation, housing and urban development, health and human services, labor, education. In total, they amount to $1.2 trillion in spending.
In turn, senators rejected an amendment introduced by Bernie Sanders (I-VT), that would have rescinded the money the 'Big Beautiful Bill' passed in 2025 for DHS.
"The American people are crying out for change. They see what's happening on our streets. They see the thugs. They see the goons. They see people being shot and killed. They see people being punched and pushed around and treated like garbage when they're American citizens, when they're here legally, when there are people on the streets. They want it stopped. We want it stopped. This is not America. Not America. And when you see those images, you know that something is dramatically wrong and it must change," Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, said after the vote.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the House of Representatives, spoke to Republicans on Friday afternoon and assured them that he hopes to quickly pass the bill on Monday. To do so, he plans to use a legislative tool known as a 'suspension of rules,' which allows him to bypass the usual procedures of a regular order.
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