Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected a Senate-passed bill that would have funded most of the Department of Homeland Security, according to multiple reports. The Senate-approved bill would’ve funded all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and part of Customs and Border Protection.
Instead, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said House Republicans are “going to do something different.” He’s proposing a short-term bill to fully fund DHS for 60 days. The measure is meant to allow lawmakers to continue negotiations towards a complete funding package.
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However, Democrats in the Senate, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have already said this wouldn’t pass the upper chamber, NBC News reports.
Before he announced his decision, Johnson called the bill the “most reckless thing we’ve ever seen and we’re so frustrated by it.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized Republicans for not passing the bill, saying Democrats are happy to support the proposal.
“This could end, and should end, today,” Jeffries said Friday, The Associated Press reports. “There is a bipartisan bill that has been sent over from the Senate that would reopen the non-controversial parts of the Department of Homeland Security.”
What was the rejected bill?
The Senate passed the bill early Friday morning, agreeing to fund all DHS functions except immigration enforcement and deportation operations. Funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection has been a sticking point as Democrats demanded changes to the agencies’ operations after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January.
The bill included $20 million for body cameras for immigration officers, but does not require that they be worn. It does not bar ICE agents from wearing masks, as Democrats had demanded. Nor does it require that officers obtain warrants signed by a judge before entering private homes.
BREAKING.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 27, 2026
The Senate just passed funding for most of DHS for the rest of the fiscal year.
The bill funds all but ICE and *Border Patrol*
This was by unanimous voice vote. It now goes to the House, which is still in town and can vote later today.
The bill contains no…
However, the bill does not address future funding for ICE or the parts of CBP involved in immigration enforcement, setting up later debates that could allow Democrats to seek the changes they wanted.
DHS shutdown caused chaos at airports
If the House had approved the measure, it would have paved the way to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, who face missing their second paycheck in a row this week.
Nearly 500 TSA employees have quit at airports around the country, and the number of officers calling out daily has skyrocketed. The staffing shortage has led to historically long lines at security checkpoints at major U.S. airports. At some locations, travelers have been delayed for four hours or more.
President Donald Trump announced an emergency order on Thursday to pay TSA agents. It’s unclear whether he would sign the Senate bill into law.
What lawmakers are saying
The Senate had failed seven times to pass a DHS funding bill, and the passage on the eighth try did not ease partisan rancor.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Friday’s outcome was “unfortunate.”
“The Dems wanted reforms,” he said. “We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms but, you know, we’re going to have to fight some of those battles another day.”
He called on the House to pass the bill before beginning a two-week congressional recess.
“Hopefully they’ll [the House] be around, and we can get at least a lot of the government opened up again, and then we’ll go from there,” Thune said.
Schumer called the approval a “long overdue agreement,” saying it “strengthens security at the border and the ports of entry, and keeps Americans safe.”
He noted the deal “could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn’t stood in the way.”
