House Republicans approved a $70 billion spending package on Tuesday that will fund immigration enforcement agencies through the end of President Trump's term. The bill passed with a vote of 214-212, largely along party lines, after the Senate approved the measure the previous week with a 52-47 vote.
The legislation allocates $38 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, $26 billion to Customs and Border Protection, and $5 billion to the Department of Homeland Security through September 2029. The bill now awaits Trump's signature.
The funding measure ends a months-long standoff between Republicans and Democrats over immigration enforcement resources. Democrats had blocked DHS funding in January following federal agents' fatal shooting of two US citizens in Minneapolis during an intensive immigration enforcement campaign. The Democratic boycott forced a 75-day government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security beginning in mid-February. After the department reopened at the end of April, Democrats agreed to fund all DHS operations except ICE and CBP, while Republicans moved forward with this separate bill to provide multi-year funding for those agencies.
House Speaker Mike Johnson framed the bill's passage as an end to Democratic obstruction. "With today's vote, House and Senate Republicans have officially ended the third Democrat government shutdown of this Congress," Johnson said. He argued that Democrats had demonstrated opposition to border security policies rejected by voters.
House Democrats unanimously opposed the legislation. Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the measure, saying it would "waste $70 billion in taxpayer money to give a blank check to ICE without any guardrails, any oversight, any accountability."
Republicans countered that the bill funds critical law enforcement operations. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise stated that supporting the legislation meant "voting to fund law enforcement" and that opposing it amounted to "voting to defund the police."
The bill's passage represents a significant legislative achievement for Johnson, who manages a historically slim Republican majority. The measure had faced additional complications during its path through Congress. Democrats attempted to insert language blocking government settlements to anyone convicted of assaulting a police officer during the January 6 insurrection, but Republicans voted down the amendment. Some Republicans also sought bipartisan compromise on blocking Trump's proposed "anti-weaponization" fund, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Senate Republicans also removed a controversial provision that would have allocated $1 billion for security improvements to a ballroom Trump is building at the White House, after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled it could not be included under the budget reconciliation procedure used to bypass the Democratic filibuster.
The multi-year funding approach removes these agencies from annual appropriations battles that have frequently threatened government shutdowns, providing budgetary certainty for immigration enforcement operations under the current administration.