“We’re going to move it as expeditiously as possible. We’re going to do our part and fund those essential functions of the government, and then we’ll do the rest of Homeland Security.”
That was House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) agreeing to move a Senate-passed bill to fund everything in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, but only after the Senate sends over a budget reconciliation bill that will fund both of those agencies through the end of President Donald Trump’s term of office that ends after 2028.
It might be the only way to get the rest of DHS open again after the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, now at 62 days and counting. And it might be the best Congressional Republicans can hope to accomplish given the current composition of the House and Senate and current Senate rules that normally require 60 votes to move appropriations bills.
In truth, the only concession Congressional Democrats have achieved via their filibuster was that they personally did not have to vote to fund ICE and Border Patrol. That’s it.
Now, under the deal that has been struck, those agencies will still be funded, but via the partisan reconciliation bill now under Senate consideration that will only require 50 votes plus the Vice President to pass. And so, Democrats won’t have to vote for it while President Donald Trump is still in office, with funding lasting the next three years.
But to guarantee the Senate completes its work on that, the House is withholding support for the main DHS funding bill. Probably a good idea. Take nothing for granted.
Otherwise, if the reconciliation plan doesn’t pass, the additional funds for ICE and Border Patrol that were added in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025 — about $140 billion for additional border protection and immigration enforcement, about $28 billion of the extra funds each year: $10 billion for ICE and $18 billion for Border Patrol — would be drained.
Anyone got a better idea? There do not appear to be the votes in the Senate to change long-standing Senate rules requiring 60 votes to pass regular kinds of legislation. So, either put it in reconciliation, or it might not pass at all.
Ultimately, this is the consequence of separating DHS funding from the other three minibuses for the current fiscal year. The twelve appropriations bills passing separately is not a constitutional requirement. It’s not even a legal requirement under the Budget Control Act. It’s just a Congressional tradition when both parties were committed to “regular order” that at the end of the day ensured everything would be funded.
And it’s not even a “tradition” that is ever followed with any regular basis. Since 1977, Congress has completed all of its appropriations bills — now 12 — only four times prior to Oct. 1: in 1977, 1989, 1995 and 1997. The last time no continuing resolution was used by Congress was in 1997. Otherwise, Congress typically does not get the appropriations process done more than 90 percent of the time, instead resorting to stopgap spending bills in lieu of a massive omnibus, minibuses or year-long continuing resolutions.
In practice, if trying to restore “regular order” actually means isolating particular programs and allowing the opposition Democrats to then target for defunding — putting the President’s agenda at risk — then maybe don’t do that again. Congress can just pass the entire budget in one go at its discretion. Better safe than sorry.
Now that we’re in this mess, fully funding ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years with the additional funding promised in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act may be the best that can be hoped for. Yes, the procedure is irregular, it gives the Senate disproportionate say in what final shape the legislation takes, but it protects the border and ensures that immigration enforcement has everything it needs to get the job done. Democrats can tell their supporters they didn’t get their hands dirty. Everyone wins. Call it a victory and let’s move on.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
