Senate advances bipartisan DHS funding deal that excludes ICE and border patrol

The U.S. Senate moved forward on a bipartisan agreement to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security through September, with one notable carve-out: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol operations are excluded from the deal. The agreement was announced jointly by House and Senate Republicans, with enough Democratic support to advance the measure and end a partial DHS shutdown that had left tens of thousands of federal workers without pay.

Separately, President Trump signed an executive order directing TSA workers to be paid regardless of what Congress does on the broader funding bill. TSA employs roughly 60,000 workers across hundreds of airports nationwide, and the order was framed as preventing disruption to air travel during the shutdown standoff. It is a narrow action that does not resolve the underlying budget dispute but does remove airport security staffing from the list of immediate pressure points.

What the deal covers and what it deliberately leaves out

The bipartisan agreement funds DHS components including the Secret Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Coast Guard. ICE and Customs and Border Protection, the agencies that include border patrol agents, are specifically not covered. That exclusion is the political hinge point of the entire arrangement. Democrats who supported the deal could argue they did not fund immigration enforcement. Republicans could argue they kept those agencies in a separate negotiation where they have more leverage.

The practical consequence for ICE and CBP workers is that they remain in shutdown status, meaning they work without pay during a funding lapse and receive retroactive pay once an agreement is reached. That has been the pattern in every major government shutdown since 1995, but it does not make the situation easier for individual agents and their families carrying mortgages and monthly expenses.

Why the bipartisan cooperation happened at all

Bipartisan DHS funding agreements do not happen often, especially on immigration-adjacent matters. The fact that this one advanced points to pressure from specific constituencies that neither party could afford to ignore. FEMA is in the middle of active disaster response operations in several states. The Coast Guard cannot pause search and rescue operations because Congress has not passed a budget. The Secret Service protects the President. Letting those functions degrade visibly while negotiations continued was untenable for members on both sides.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both put their names behind the framework, which gave it enough institutional weight to move quickly through procedural votes. That kind of top-level alignment on a bipartisan deal is unusual in the current political environment and suggests both leaders calculated that getting something passed was better than holding out for a complete package that clearly was not coming together.

The ICE and border patrol funding gap and what happens next

With ICE and CBP left out of the current deal, those agencies remain dependent on a separate negotiation that has no clear timeline. The Trump administration has consistently argued for significantly increased funding for both agencies, citing its border enforcement priorities. Congressional Democrats have been equally consistent in opposing funding increases for immigration enforcement absent broader immigration reform legislation.

The operational effect of the shutdown on border operations is complicated. CBP agents are considered essential workers under shutdown rules, meaning they report to work and receive back pay later. The agencies do not stop functioning during a funding lapse the way a non-essential government office might. What the shutdown does affect is procurement, equipment maintenance contracts, and the hiring pipeline, which means staffing gaps that existed before the shutdown are not being filled while it continues.

Trump's TSA order and its legal basis

The executive order directing TSA workers to be paid during the shutdown relies on the President's authority to classify certain government functions as national security priorities requiring continuous operation. The legal mechanism is the same one used to keep military personnel paid during past shutdowns. Whether the Office of Management and Budget can actually authorize payments without a Congressional appropriation is a question that has been tested and litigated before, and courts have generally allowed narrow national security exceptions while requiring Congress to ultimately ratify the spending.

The House is expected to vote on the partial DHS funding bill within the next 48 hours. If it passes and Trump signs it, the affected DHS components would receive funding through September 30, 2025, the end of the current federal fiscal year. ICE and CBP would remain on a separate track, with leadership from both chambers saying they intend to reach a standalone agreement on those agencies before the end of April.