Last evening the President signed the Homeland Security FY2026 appropriations bill, ending the 75-day shutdown. Earlier in the day the House passed the Senate version of the bill by a voice vote. The bill does not contain funding for ICE and Border Protection, but funding for those agencies will be included in a budget reconciliation bill.

Speaking of the budget reconciliation process… after twisting arms for more than 5 hours, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, the House voted 215-211 – strictly along party lines – to adopt the Senate passed budget resolution. Now that both chambers have adopted the budget blueprint (S Con Res 33), lawmakers can move forward with a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to provide three years of funding for ICE and Border Protection. The budget resolution instructs authorizing committees to write the detailed reconciliation legislation by May 15. To speed up the process, the Senate’s Homeland Security and Judiciary committees will take the lead on writing the legislation with input from the House.