Airport Alert: While There is a Path Forward to Complete Funding for DHS, Timing is Uncertain

April 2, 2026

The Senate this morning again passed a bipartisan plan to fund most of DHS after the President called on Congress to act. But it is unclear when the House will take up the Senate-passed measure since both chambers are in recess until mid-April.

Recent Developments in More Detail:

On April 1, President Trump posted a message on Truth Social that called on Republicans in Congress to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security using a two track process, with Congress funding all DHS activities, except activities related to immigration enforcement, deportation, and Border Patrol in an annual appropriations bill, and on a separate track funding immigration enforcement and border security activities in a reconciliation bill, which would only need Republican votes to pass. The President directed Congress to complete the reconciliation process no later than June 1, 2026. This is exactly what the Senate tried to do last Friday, but House leadership refused to consider that legislation and instead sent the Senate a bill to extend funding for DHS for 60 days, until May 22.

Yesterday afternoon both House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced that the House and Senate will take up H.R. 7147, the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations Act to fund DHS and end the record-breaking shutdown. The Senate then began attempting to reach unanimous agreement from all 100 members to send last Friday’s Senate-passed DHS bill back to the House without amendment.

Early this morning, the Senate put aside the House plan to fund the entire department for 60 days and instead sent its deal to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security back to the House. The House also met briefly this morning but did not consider anything related to DHS appropriations.

Later today, House Republicans are scheduled to talk through the two track DHS funding strategy.

Both the Senate and House are in recess until the second full week of April. However, the House has scheduled a pro forma session on Monday, April 6. Legislation is rarely considered during brief pro forma sessions, but the House could consider the DHS funding bill next week if members grant unanimous consent to do so. If not, Speaker Johnson will need to wait until the House of Representatives is back in session on April 14, prolonging the DHS shutdown for more than another week.