Mike Johnson supports the House passage of the Senate bill to end the DHS shutdown
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Congress took a major step toward ending the record-breaking Department of Homeland Security shutdown Thursday as the White House warned hundreds of thousands of federal workers could lose pay during the 75-day shutdown.
The House of Representatives unanimously approved a Senate-passed spending measure that covers most of the department's budget through September.
The vote came after DHS funding stalled in the chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to table the bill because of language that he said would be used to implement the law. The speaker's opposition echoed the views of many in his caucus, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate unanimously passed it in March.
Johnson reversed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged quick passage of the upper chamber's bill.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, speaks at a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“We are not disrespecting the White House,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “Everybody understands what we're doing. We're all one team.”
In an internal memo sent to the Hill's offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned that it will not be able to pay workers starting in May if the House does not pass the Senate's DHS bill. Administrators since early April have been using existing funds to cover six weeks of pay and a new pay period for DHS workers — but have warned that money is running out fast.
“If this funding ends, the Administration will not be able to pay DHS workers beginning in May, which will further disrupt air travel, leave law enforcement — including our brave Secret Service agents — and the Coast Guard without pay, and jeopardize national security,” the memo said.
Some Republicans argued that failing to pass the Senate's DHS bill before leaving Washington for the planned recess would be impossible.
“We have to fund DHS, even if it's 80% of DHS,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, RN.Y., told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We're in a dangerous situation with funding levels right now. We have to do this before we even think about going on leave.”
Langworthy sent a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to Johnson earlier in the week urging the speaker to bring the Senate DHS bill up for a vote.
“What other option are you going to have? Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital when asked if the House would take up the Senate's DHS bill. “This hurts the families of people who are willing to help their communities, their nation, their country. Why don't we?”
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Democrats, who initially pushed for a freeze on immigration funding, supported the Senate measure because it did not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“Bring the bill that passed the Senate twice to the House floor today and it will fully fund the Department of Homeland Security without ICE and the Republicans' violent deportation machine,” Jeffries said at a press conference Monday.
