Shutdown Deal SHOCK: ICE Left Out

Washington just proved it can reopen the government—by carving out the very agencies tasked with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.

Quick Take

The Senate unanimously passed a partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill after a 42-day shutdown, but it excludes ICE and parts of CBP.
TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and CISA would be funded, easing airport disruptions and restoring paychecks for many federal workers.
Republican leaders say ICE and CBP funding will be handled later through reconciliation, a party-line process that avoids Democratic votes.
Democrats argue ICE should not receive more money without reforms, while Republicans argue reforms depend on funding.
The House must still act, and Speaker Mike Johnson has been noncommittal about advancing a bill that breaks out ICE funding.

Senate ends most of the shutdown—while leaving immigration enforcement out

Senators approved the partial DHS funding plan early Friday morning by voice vote, a rare unanimous outcome after a 42-day shutdown that disrupted airport operations and hit federal workers’ finances. The bill funds major DHS components such as TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The catch is what’s missing: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection are excluded, pushing the core immigration fight into a separate track.

House action is the next bottleneck. The Senate sent the bill to the House with expectations of fast consideration before Congress leaves for a two-week recess, but the politics are touchy. House Republicans have previously objected to separating ICE from the broader DHS funding package, and Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to moving a bill that excludes ICE money. That uncertainty matters because the shutdown’s real-world pain has been concentrated at airports and in paychecks.

Why ICE and CBP became the leverage point in a budget fight

Democrats tied immigration enforcement funding to demands for changes to ICE operations, arguing the agency should not receive additional money “without serious reform.” Negotiations intensified late in the shutdown, including a White House meeting after President Trump pressed Republicans to combine DHS funding with his SAVE America Act. The eventual framework broke the logjam by funding most of DHS first and kicking the immigration enforcement question to a later vote—without specifying when that follow-up will happen.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune framed the standoff bluntly: reforms, he said, are “contingent on funding for ICE,” suggesting reform demands ring hollow if lawmakers refuse to provide resources to implement changes. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer countered that the agreement could have been reached weeks earlier and insisted Democrats will keep fighting to prevent what he described as a “rogue” immigration operation from getting more funding without changes. The record shows both sides are digging in on sequencing: money first versus reforms first.

What this means for border security, workers, and constitutional politics

In the short term, the partial funding plan would reopen core homeland security operations that keep Americans moving and protected—airport screening, disaster response, maritime security, and cyber defense—while bringing relief to workers who missed paychecks. ICE, however, would not automatically shut down. Reports indicate the agency can keep operating using previously appropriated funds, including large multi-year allocations enacted in 2025, which reduces immediate operational risk but does not resolve the political fight.

The money trail: huge enforcement budgets, yet still a shutdown standoff

The funding argument is happening against a backdrop of steep long-term spending on immigration enforcement. Advocacy tracking cited by immigration policy groups shows ICE’s budget grew from $3.4 billion in 2004 to $9.2 billion in 2024, while CBP rose from $4.9 billion to $20 billion over the same period. Congress also approved major multi-year funding in 2025, including $75 billion for ICE and $64 billion for CBP through 2029, which complicates claims that enforcement is being “defunded.”

Senate Agrees to End Shutdown – Fund DHS EXCEPT for ICE and CBP https://t.co/K2mx7Y4K98 #gatewaypundit via @gatewaypundit

— FirstCount (@SalvatoBert) March 27, 2026

For conservatives watching Washington in 2026, the bigger story is how routinely leadership reaches for procedural end-runs to settle high-stakes disputes—especially while the country is already stretched by war and high costs at home. The Senate’s approach separates day-to-day DHS functions from immigration enforcement, then punts the hardest vote into reconciliation, where party-line outcomes are more likely. Whether that protects border enforcement or weakens accountability depends on what the House does next and how the reconciliation bill is written.