Trump and Senate Democrats Strike Deal to Fund Government, Delay DHS Vote

President Donald Trump and Senate Democrats reached a last-minute agreement Thursday night to avert a partial U.S. government shutdown, advancing five long-term spending bills while putting the contentious Department of Homeland Security budget on a separate, two-week track for further negotiation nbcnews +1. The deal, announced after the Senate rejected a $1.2 trillion House funding package 45–55 earlier in the day, would keep most federal agencies funded through September 30, 2026, and extend Homeland Security funding only until February 13 nbcnews +1.

The compromise came hours before money for major departments — including Defense, State, Transportation, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security — was set to run out at 11:59 p.m. Friday, raising the prospect of another stoppage just months after a record 43‑day shutdown last fall cnn +1. Trump hailed the agreement on social media, saying “Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security” nbcnews.

How the Deal Works — and What Gets Funded Now

Under the framework, Congress would quickly move five appropriations bills covering most of the government, locking in full‑year funding for a wide swath of domestic and defense programs and removing them from the shutdown crossfire until the end of the fiscal year nytimes +1. The contentious DHS bill — which carried roughly $64.4 billion for the department, including about $10 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement — would be stripped out and replaced with a short continuing resolution running two weeks cnn.

The earlier House-passed six‑bill “minibus” that bundled DHS together with the other agencies ran aground in the Senate when all Democrats and a group of conservative Republicans opposed it, leaving it 15 votes short of the 60 needed to advance nbcnews +1. The new structure effectively sacrifices the original DHS package to secure near-term stability for the rest of the federal government while delaying, but not resolving, the core fight over immigration enforcement.

Minneapolis Killings Turn DHS Funding Into a Proxy Fight Over ICE

The decision to isolate DHS followed mounting Democratic demands for concrete changes to immigration enforcement tactics after two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, were killed during federal operations in Minneapolis earlier in January, sparking nationwide protests and bipartisan concern nytimes +1. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer framed the standoff as a “moment of truth” over what he called “state-sanctioned thuggery” by ICE, as Democrats pushed for new rules requiring warrants in some operations, body cameras and visible identification for agents, tighter use‑of‑force standards, and independent investigations of deadly incidents nytimes +1.

Republicans were split. Hard-liners objected to using the DHS budget to force policy concessions and opposed breaking up the House bill, while others signaled openness to some oversight measures but warned that a two‑week deadline might be too short to draft complex reforms nbcnews +1. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that if the Senate reworked the package, “we will have to move it as quickly as possible. We can’t have the government shut down” apnews. The White House, meanwhile, agreed to the narrow DHS extension, betting it could contain the political damage from the Minneapolis fallout without accepting Democrats’ full wish list.

Looking Ahead

The agreement sharply lowers the risk of an immediate shutdown, but it merely postpones the most explosive question on Capitol Hill: how far Congress and the White House are willing to go in reshaping ICE and Border Patrol powers. With DHS funding now set to expire again on February 13, lawmakers have two weeks to translate broad principles into enforceable rules — or face the same brinkmanship over a department at the center of both border security and civil-liberties debates. nbcnews +1