Senate Passes DHS Funding Bill as White House Warns of Missed Paychecks

Key facts

• The House approved by voice vote a Senate-passed spending measure covering most DHS appropriations through September.
• The DHS shutdown lasted 76 days, the longest partial government shutdown on record.
• The White House warned it would be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May if funding was not restored.
• The Senate will next convene on May 11 at 3:00 p.m., with votes at 5:30 p.m. on an executive resolution and a cloture motion for Kevin Warsh's Fed nomination.
• President Donald Trump is expected to sign the measure into law, restoring funding for Secret Service, Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune secured unanimous consent for resolutions honoring UCLA women's basketball, Arbor Day, and AANHPI Month.
• The Senate passed S. 4465, extending FISA Title VII authorities, by voice vote after Senator Wyden spoke on the legislation.

Lede: DHS Shutdown Ends After 76 Days

Congress took a decisive step toward ending the record-breaking partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, as the House of Representatives approved by voice vote a Senate-passed spending measure that funds most of the department's appropriations through September. The vote came with the White House warning that hundreds of thousands of federal employees were on the verge of missing paychecks amid the 76-day funding lapse. The measure now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to swiftly sign it into law, restoring funding for the Secret Service, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies. The shutdown had left critical law enforcement and national security personnel without pay for over ten weeks.

House Reversal After Month-Long Stalemate

The Senate's DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. Johnson's opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March. Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber's bill. "We're not defying the White House," Johnson told reporters Wednesday. "Everybody understands what we're doing. We're all one team."

White House Memo Warns of Payroll Crisis

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate's partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly depleting. "If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security," the memo stated. The warning underscored the urgency of the vote, as lawmakers faced a deadline to avert a payroll crisis.

Senate Schedule and Key Votes Ahead

The Senate, which had been in pro forma sessions, will next convene on Monday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. Following Leader Remarks, the Senate will enter a period of morning business. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate will hold two roll call votes: adoption of S. Res. 690, an executive resolution authorizing en bloc consideration of certain nominations, and a motion to invoke cloture on Kevin Warsh of Florida to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of fourteen years from February 1, 2026. Earlier on Thursday, Majority Leader John Thune started wrap-up, securing unanimous consent en bloc for S. Res. 718 (UCLA Women's Basketball Champions), S. Res. 719 (Arbor Day), and S. Res. 720 (AANHPI Month). The Senate also passed S. 4465, a bill to extend FISA Title VII authorities, by voice vote after Senator Wyden spoke on the legislation.

Immigration Enforcement Funding Still Pending

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). That legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period. Trump has requested top Republicans send the immigration enforcement measure to his desk by June 1. Johnson said he dropped his objections to the Senate bill after his chamber took the first step toward funding Trump's immigration enforcement agenda late Wednesday. "We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies," Johnson told reporters. "That was critically important for us to ensure that we're going to protect the homeland."

Outlook: Averting Crisis but Deepening Divisions

The passage of the DHS funding bill averts an immediate crisis for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who faced missed paychecks in May. However, the broader political divisions over immigration enforcement funding remain unresolved. The separate party-line package for ICE and CBP faces an uncertain path, with a June 1 deadline set by Trump. The 76-day shutdown, the longest partial government shutdown in history, has highlighted the fragility of the appropriations process and the deep partisan rifts over immigration policy. As lawmakers leave for recess, the clock is ticking on the next funding battle.

The bottom line

• The House approved a Senate-passed DHS spending bill by voice vote, ending a 76-day partial shutdown.
• The White House warned it would run out of funds to pay DHS personnel in May without the bill's passage.
• President Trump is expected to sign the measure, restoring funding for Secret Service, Coast Guard, FEMA, and TSA.
• Speaker Johnson reversed his opposition after the White House urged passage and the House took steps toward funding ICE and CBP.
• Republicans are drafting a separate party-line package for ICE and CBP, with a June 1 deadline from Trump.
• The Senate will hold key votes on May 11, including a cloture motion for Kevin Warsh's Fed nomination.