By Joe LightEvie Liu

The Senate on Friday evening passed a bipartisan deal to fund most of the federal government, averting a broader government shutdown while buying lawmakers more time to negotiate funding for immigration enforcement.

The legislation still must clear the House of Representatives, which is not expected back in session until Monday. That means the government will likely face a short funding lapse starting at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.

The revised package passed on Friday in a 71 to 29 vote, and includes five appropriations bills that would finance most government agencies through Sept. 30, but the Department of Homeland Security would be only granted two additional weeks of funding.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening that Democrats had struck a deal with the White House to avert an extended government shutdown. In post on TruthSocial, President Donald Trump endorsed the deal, calling a long shutdown "the only thing that can slow our Country down." The newspaper reported that voting on the arrangement was pushed back to Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, a procedural vote to fund the government, including DHS, through Sept. 30 failed by a vote of 45 to 55. Many Senate Democrats refused to support the package because it included DHS funding without additional reforms to immigration enforcement -- particularly for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A group of Republican Senators, including Ted Budd (R, N.C.), and Ron Johnson (R, Wis.), joined Democrats in voting against advancing the package, believing the measure couldn't reach the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) voted "no" to allow himself to enter a motion to reconsider and set up another vote.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Wednesday laid out a list of Democrats' demands to pass DHS funding, including requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to remove their masks and to require judicial warrants for searches and arrests.

A shutdown seemed off the table just a week ago, but that all changed after ICE agents killed 37-year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti. Stripping the DHS of funding isn't likely to affect ICE operations, which can draw on other money, but it has become a point of leverage for Democrats who want to use the bill to rein in the department.

Though a funding lapse on Saturday could technically trigger shutdown measures, the closures will be nothing like the record-setting 43-day shutdown that ended last fall.

Instead, the lapse would be more akin to the one that occurred in February 2018. That lapse only lasted a few hours, with most federal offices opening as normal and no mass furloughs.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) has said it could be difficult to bring members back over the weekend to pass a bill. Even if Johnson is able to get the House to vote on the funding measures this weekend, it might take some work from House leadership and Trump to get all Republicans on board.

On Wednesday, members of the House Freedom Caucus sent Trump a letter encouraging him not to agree to any plan that separates the DHS funding from the other appropriations bills.

"We cannot support giving Democrats the ability to control the funding of our Department of Homeland Security," the letter said.

In the past, Trump has been able to strong-arm GOP lawmakers into falling in line. His personal involvement might be needed again to keep a shutdown short-lived.

The temporary DHS funding sets up a standoff for mid-February, though some GOP lawmakers have already conceded that some changes to ICE are on the way. Thune on Thursday told reporters that Republicans are open to some of the changes to ICE that Democrats have asked for. "There's a path to consider some of those things and negotiate," he said.

Write to Joe Light at joe.light@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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January 30, 2026 20:11 ET (01:11 GMT)

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