The US House of Representatives ended a partial government shutdown after President Donald Trump urged Republicans to press ahead with a vote despite concerns with the new spending plan.
Democrats and Republicans disagreed over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is under intense scrutiny after federal immigration agents shot and killed two US citizens in Minneapolis last month.
Brokered in the US Senate at Trump’s urging, the deal funds the government and buys lawmakers more time to haggle over the future of DHS.
The deal, which passed in a narrow 217-214 vote, keeps DHS running for two weeks while lawmakers consider future funding and reforms to the agency.
DHS funding is the most fraught component of the package – lawmakers, even within each of the parties, do not agree on the best way to move forward.
The DHS encompasses multiple subsidiary agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Coast Guard and Secret Service.
Democrats want changes to DHS immigration enforcement operations, including requirements that agents record on body cameras and not wear masks to conceal their faces.
They have also demanded changes in funding to DHS in light of the fatal shootings in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and have advocated for changes to protocol.
Both chambers of the US Congress – the House and Senate – must vote to approve legislation before it can be signed into law by the president.
Senators had agreed to a package of five spending bills, but stripped out a sixth bill funding DHS.
The Senate instead approved enough money to keep DHS running for two weeks while lawmakers work out disputes over its long-term budget.
That is the same agreement the House passed on Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune had said he was concerned about the two-week timing in part because members of the Republican conference remain in “very different places”.
“Once we start, we have a very short timeframe in which to do this, which I lobbied against, but the Democrats insisted on a two-week window,” Thune said. “I don’t understand the rationale for that. Anybody who knows this place knows that’s an impossibility.”
President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to send a bill to his desk “without delay”.
“We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
The limited shutdown affected numerous government services, forcing thousands of Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control workers to either stay home on furlough or work without pay.
It will also delay the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly job’s report. The report is used by political leaders, investors and everyday Americans to understand how the economy is faring.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
