Trump Signs Bill Ending 76-Day DHS Shutdown

President Trump signed a bill on April 30, 2026, to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, ending a 76-day partial shutdown, the longest funding lapse in U.S. history. The House of Representatives passed the measure by voice vote earlier that day, following Senate approval nearly a month prior.

The legislation covers agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had ceased nonessential operations during the shutdown.

The bill does not provide annual appropriations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the border security functions of Customs and Border Protection. These agencies have continued operations using a separate funding stream, including $170 billion approved by Congress as part of a tax cuts bill last year.

Midway through the shutdown, President Trump issued an executive order to restart paychecks for essential employees who had been working without compensation. The administration had warned that emergency payroll funds would be exhausted by the end of April, potentially leaving employees unpaid starting in May.

The shutdown began on February 14, 2026, amid a political feud over funding for immigration enforcement. Senate Democrats filibustered a full department funding bill passed by the House in January, demanding reforms to immigration agencies after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens during protests against deportation sweeps in Minneapolis.

Republicans accused Democrats of aiming to defund the agencies entirely and rejected the proposed changes. Bipartisan negotiations on policy reforms failed, leading Republicans to pursue a two-step funding approach.

The Senate passed the partial funding bill in March, but the House delayed action until Republicans could advance separate funding for the immigration agencies. House Republicans initially amended the bill with a short-term stopgap, but the Senate rejected it, prompting further delays.

“We were not going to have lines at TSA. Everybody gets their paychecks now and will get them moving forward." — House Speaker Mike Johnson, April 30, 2026 (The Washington Times). Republicans plan to use the filibuster-proof reconciliation process to provide three years of funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without Democratic reforms. The House speaker stated that Republicans will soon "finish the work" on this separate measure. The shutdown caused chaos at airports, with long wait times due to unpaid security officers. Essential workers, including those in presidential security and the Coast Guard, continued duties without guaranteed pay until the executive order provided relief. Democrats described the shutdown as unnecessarily prolonged by House Republicans, noting that the approved bill was the same one the Senate passed unanimously five weeks earlier. The top Democrat on government funding in the Senate highlighted this point.”

With over 200,000 personnel, the Department of Homeland Security is one of the largest executive branch agencies. The funding lapse disrupted air travel and national security operations not directly tied to immigration enforcement. The resolution came amid intensified calls for action following a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on April 25, 2026, where a man allegedly attempted to assassinate President Trump.

The administration had emphasized that without funding, critical operations could be jeopardized starting in May.