The House agreed on a series of funding bills to reopen the government on Tuesday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. The legislation was passed by a razor-thin margin of 217-214, with 21 Democrats voting in favor, but an equal number of Republicans voting against.
Getting the bill to the full House earlier Tuesday was not easy. A procedural vote to reopen the government advanced by the narrowest of margins as the entire Democratic caucus joined Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in voting against the test vote.
Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and John Rose were originally opposed to advancing the bill for final approval. After Speaker Mike Johnson kept the vote open for nearly an hour, Rose flipped his vote to be in favor of the test vote.
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The government officially shut down over the weekend, even after the Senate voted to approve funding. Democrats pushed for more accountability for immigration enforcement activities, including expanding the use of body-worn cameras on agents, as a condition to advance funding.
The legislation includes five spending bills to keep the government funded through the end of the fiscal year, while a sixth funding allocation will only fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks while legislators debate changes. Democrats have pushed for changes to immigration enforcement procedures, including the use of body-worn cameras on agents.
If lawmakers fail to fund the Department of Homeland Security within two weeks, immigration enforcement officers and airport safety workers are among those who could go without pay.
President Trump is expected to sign the legislation, bringing an end to the four-day-long shutdown.
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