House passes spending package as progressives threaten DHS funding over ICE

The House of Representatives passed a roughly $80 billion spending package Wednesday evening, taking an important step toward avoiding a government shutdown at the end of this month.

The package combines two of Congress’s 12 annual appropriations bills into what’s called a “minibus.” It covers funding for the Department of State and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations.

Burning questions remain, however, regarding funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as progressives threaten to refuse to support such a bill unless it is coupled with meaningful reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This push comes from the left in response to the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, 37, a U.S. citizen who was driving her car when she made physical contact with a law enforcement officer who then shot her.

HOUSE ADOPTS NEARLY $180B FUNDING PACKAGE AFTER CONSERVATIVE REBELLION AGAINST FRAUD FEARS IN MINNESOTA

Rep. Ilhan Omar speaks during a news conference with other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on funding and efforts to reform the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, January 13, 2026. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Partisan divisions have erupted over that account, with Republican officials like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem saying the agent acted in self-defense, while Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for criminal investigations.

Funding for DHS was originally supposed to be part of that minibus, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters earlier this week that he would like to see the bill as part of the final package that is also expected to include funding for the War Department, Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, among others.

But the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told reporters Tuesday that she wants to see DHS funding as a separate bill.

“It has to happen on its own,” DeLauro said. “It has to be separate.”

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Meanwhile, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is formally threatening to oppose any DHS funding that does not change immigration enforcement policy, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced.

“Members of our caucus will oppose any funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriations bill until meaningful reforms are passed to end militarized policing practices. We cannot and must not continue to fund agencies that operate with impunity,” she told reporters.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, December 2, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But the bill passed Wednesday enjoyed, as expected, broad bipartisan support.

All federal spending bills following last year’s government shutdown are the product of bipartisan discussions between the House and Senate.

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The recent package totals just over $76 billion in federal funds and now goes to the Senate for approval before arriving on President Donald Trump’s desk.

The Department of State and National Security bill includes $850 million for an “America First Opportunity Fund,” aimed at providing the secretary of state with funding to respond to possible unforeseen circumstances.

Republicans and Democrats touted different victories in the legislation, with a summary from Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee stating that the invoice supports “President Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy by eliminating wasteful spending on DEI or woke programming, mandates on climate change, and divisive gender ideologies.” »

Democrats said the bill “supports women around the world” by “protecting funding for bilateral family planning and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)” and cited $6.8 billion for a new account “that supports activities previously funded under development assistance.”

The bill also provides millions of euros in security aid to Israel and Taiwan, among other global partners.

This latest bill provides just over $13 billion for the U.S. Treasury for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, while also including a provision that prevents the IRS “from targeting individuals or groups to exercise their First Amendment rights or ideological beliefs,” according to Republicans.

It also provides $872 million for the Executive Office of the President and $9.69 billion in discretionary funding for the federal judiciary.

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Meanwhile, across the Capitol, the Senate is expected to vote and pass the previous three-bill funding plan on Thursday before leaving Washington, D.C., for a week-long recess.

Neither party appears willing to impose another government shutdown, with Senate Democrats in particular seeing the package as an opportunity to fund several of their priorities. But there is a growing consensus that short-term funding will be needed to allow lawmakers to finish their work on the thornier DHS bill.

“Homeland is obviously the toughest issue, and it’s possible that if we don’t come to an agreement, there will be some sort of CR that will fund some of these bills into next year,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

Still, bipartisan negotiations over funding continue — a stark change from the government’s last funding deadline in October. But lawmakers in the upper chamber won’t be able to tackle the two-bill package before they return near the end of the month.