Congress ends record shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on April 21, 2026. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP The House of Representatives voted Thursday to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security, ending the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history. The House passed a bill funding DHS, minus dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The measure passed by voice vote on what was the 76th day of the shutdown. Democrats refused to back funding for many of the agency's immigration functions in an unsuccessful effort to secure reforms including body-worn cameras and broad restrictions on face coverings after federal law enforcement killed two American citizens in Minnesota earlier this year. The Senate, led by Republican Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., unanimously advanced this funding legislation in March. At the time, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., referred to the proposal as "a joke" and refused to bring it up for a vote. Many members of the House Republican conference refused to fund the agency in a piecemeal fashion and did not want to negotiate over reforms to immigration enforcement operations. On April 1 , Johnson reversed course. He announced the funding bill would be voted on "in the coming days." More than four weeks later, he finally made good on that commitment. …