House approves Senate bill to fund DHS and end 76-day shutdown

Washington — The House on Thursday unanimously approved a Senate-passed bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, a move that will soon end the 76-day shutdown that has left many critical agencies struggling to maintain operations and pay employees. The bill was approved by voice vote, sending it to President Trump's desk. The shutdown will end once the president signs the legislation into law. The department has been shut down since Feb. 14, making it the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. Democrats have objected to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, the two agencies under DHS that have led the charge on enforcing Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown. The Senate unanimously passed legislation to fund the rest of DHS last month. But House Republicans rejected that plan, arguing that the bill would be caving to Democratic demands to defund the president's immigration agenda. Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and President Trump eventually coalesced around a plan to fund the entirety of DHS on two parallel tracks. The first would involve the House passing the Senate DHS bill to immediately reopen the department. The second involves funding ICE and Border Patrol through the budget reconciliation process, which will allow Republicans to approve a bill without support from Senate Democrats. …