Congress ends DHS shutdown amid flurry of action before taking a break

After a week of late nights, last-minute votes, and party infighting, Congress passed a flurry of items – including a bill to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown – ahead of a one-week recess and multiple impending deadlines. The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to fund all of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law Thursday evening.That ended a record 76-day partial government shutdown that included agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard. The excluded agencies – ICE and CBP – already have funding through the Republicans’ tax and spending bill last year. Why We Wrote This Lawmakers resolved several persistent issues, including some that had been held up by inter-party disagreements among Republicans, and addressed homeland security funding less than a week after an alleged assassination attempt against President Donald Trump. The House passed the measure in a voice vote, just before the last paychecks were set to go out to DHS employees. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned that the Trump administration’s temporary funding to cover their pay would run out during the first