Republican plan to fund Homeland Security could get first test vote on Thursday

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) 2026-04-02T04:06:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to try quickly passing a measure Thursday that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, though it’s unclear how soon the House will follow to largely end the longest partial government shutdown in history.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced a plan Wednesday to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security as part of a two-step process.

The agreement puts the leaders on the same page for ending the impasse after they pursued separate plans that resulted in Congress leaving Washington last week without a fix.

Johnson and Thune announced a return to the bipartisan Senate plan worked out with Democrats that funds most of the department, with the exception of U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S.

Border Patrol.

Republicans would then try later to fund those agencies on their own through party-line spending legislation that could take months to finish.

Neither outcome is guaranteed, and the strategy could potentially still face opposition from the GOP’s own ranks even though President Donald Trump has given his support. “We appreciate and share the President’s determination to once and for all bring an end to the Democrat DHS shutdown,” said Johnson, R-La., and Thune, R-S.D.

House Republicans refused to go along with the Senate plan last week excluding ICE and Border Patrol, instead changing the bill to fund all of DHS for 60 days.

The DHS shutdown reached its 47th day on Wednesday.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, “Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction.” The two top Republicans hope to win over skeptical GOP colleagues, but the most conservative lawmakers are likely to seek full funding for all of Trump’s immigration and deportation operations. “Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again,” Rep.

Scott Perry, R-Pa., posted on X. “If that’s the vote, I’m a NO.” The Senate meets for an early pro-forma session Thursday.

Those generally last just a few minutes as the vast majority of senators are not present.

Senators could take up the measure they passed just last wee

原文链接: AP News