Washington, DC [US], February 4 (ANI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon signed a major spending package to reopen the federal government, formally ending a partial shutdown that had lasted three days.
“I’m thrilled to sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act to immediately reopen the federal government and fund the vast majority of operations through the rest of the fiscal year,” Trump said while signing the bill in the Oval Office.
Trump’s signature restored funding to several critical departments but created another funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security in two weeks, CNN reported.
Earlier on Tuesday, the US House passed a set of spending bills aimed at ending the partial shutdown while allowing additional time for bipartisan negotiations on new accountability measures for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to The Washington Post.
Had lawmakers failed to reach consensus, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would have faced a shutdown on February 14. ICE operations and other immigration-related efforts were being sustained through $170 billion appropriated for homeland security under the Republican tax and spending law passed last year, The Washington Post reported.
“ICE and the Department of Homeland Security need to dramatically change,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, told reporters on Monday. “And absent that, then a full-year appropriations bill is in deep trouble.”
The House approved the legislation by a narrow 217–214 vote. House Democrats had pledged not to help Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, advance the legislation, though 21 Democrats ultimately voted in favor of the final bill. Meanwhile, 21 Republicans voted against it, according to The Washington Post.
Trump later praised Johnson during the bill-signing ceremony. “Speaker Mike Johnson’s done an incredible job. Done really an incredible job, and we appreciate it,” the President said.
“I’m happy to report Republicans got the job done,” Johnson said Tuesday afternoon. He added that congressional leaders hope to avoid a Department of Homeland Security shutdown next week and emphasized the agency’s broader responsibilities beyond immigration enforcement. “This is no time to play games with that funding. We hope that they will operate in good faith over the next 10 days as we negotiate this.” (ANI)
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