The US House of Representatives narrowly approved a bipartisan agreement that will end the partial shutdown of the federal government and sent it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The legislation restores funding to key areas such as defense, health, labor, education, housing and other agencies through October, and temporarily expands the resources of the Department of Homeland Security, while lawmakers continue to negotiate possible changes to immigration policy.
Funding for these agencies expired on Saturday. So far, the interruption has not generated significant effects on public services.
“This bill is a great victory for the American people,” Trump said of the legislation, which was stopped by Democratic opposition to funding the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for federal agencies’ controversial operations targeting migrants.
The approval of the budget package guarantees the financing of most of the government apparatus until the end of September, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security. As a compromise, the package provides the department with only transitional funding until February 13.
The agreement had already been approved by the Senate last week with bipartisan support and has the support of President Trump. In the House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, it was endorsed by 217 votes in favor and 214 against, with 21 Republicans who voted against it and 21 Democrats who supported it.
Democrats have conditioned their support on including new restrictions on the government’s immigration tactics, following the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis last month.
Once enacted, the law will allow most federal agencies to resume operations, although funding for the Department of Homeland Security will remain the subject of negotiation.
Approved package
The approved spending package reached 1.2 billion dollars. To bring the initiative to a final vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson needed almost total support from his caucus, support he achieved by a narrow margin.
The previous federal government shutdown was the longest in the country’s history, affecting hundreds of thousands of federal workers and causing an estimated $11 billion in losses to the U.S. economy.
