The U.S. House ended the bulk of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history Thursday, approving a bipartisan bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security after weeks of delay and with little fanfare.
It was a head-spinning turnaround: Just Wednesday, House Republican leaders were insisting that the Senate-passed bill had a technical problem that made it impossible for them to support it.
But President Donald Trump had been pushing lawmakers to fund the agency before the end of the week, when an emergency fund used to pay employee salaries would run dry. An assassination attempt at the White House correspondents’ dinner the weekend before had also heightened interest in ensuring Secret Service agents don’t miss a paycheck.
The bill that now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature funds all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which Republicans plan to fund through a reconciliation bill, which would not require Democratic support.
Agencies that will be funded once Trump signs the bill include the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service.
The chamber approved it by voice vote with just a few dozen members on the floor.
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