House Ends Partial Government Shutdown

On February 3, 2026, the House approved a funding package in a close bipartisan vote of 217-214. This legislation ends the partial government shutdown by funding the majority of federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2026), while providing only short-term (two-week) funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through February 13, 2026, to allow more time for negotiations on disputed issues like immigration enforcement.

• The partial shutdown began over the weekend. 
• The Senate passed this revised package on January 30, 2026, in a 71-29 bipartisan vote.
• The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, and he has indicated he will sign it, which would officially end the shutdown for the funded agencies shortly after.

This resolves funding for most of the government but sets up a potential new deadline/conflict over DHS in two weeks. The separation of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding from the broader government funding package was a deliberate compromise to avoid a longer or full shutdown while addressing a major partisan dispute.

The core reason stems from Democrats’ demands for reforms and accountability measures on immigration enforcement, particularly at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies like Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This intensified after recent high-profile incidents: fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis in late January 2026, amid the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement push in that area.

Democrats refused to support full-year DHS funding without concessions, such as requiring agents to wear body cameras, prohibiting masks on agents, and other guardrails on enforcement tactics, oversight, and identification requirements. Republicans and the White House initially pushed for full-year funding without those restrictions, viewing them as limits on border security and deportation efforts.

To break the impasse and prevent prolonged disruptions, a deal was struck between Senate Democrats, the White House, and GOP leaders:

• The DHS funding was separated and replaced with a short-term continuing resolution (CR) extending it only through February 13, 2026.
• This allowed the rest of the government (five other major appropriations bills covering agencies like Defense, Labor, HHS, Education, Transportation, etc.) to get full-year funding through September 30, 2026, ending the partial government shutdown for most operations.
• The two-week window buys time for bipartisan negotiations on potential DHS reforms, with input from both parties and the administration.