Trump signs bill to end record shutdown over immigration enforcement

President Donald Trump has signed a spending bill that officially ended end the 76-day partial government shutdown that caused chaos in US airports.

The House of Representatives earlier on Thursday approved a Senate-passed bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs everything from immigration enforcement to airport security.

It comes more than two months after funding lapsed for the department over political disagreements on Trump's immigration crackdown.

The law reopens DHS but doesn't include funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The shutdown led to chaos at airports across the US for weeks due to a shortage of security officers, who went unpaid for weeks, as Republicans and Democrats feuded.

Democrats had refused to fund ICE and CBP, demanding they be reformed following two deadly shootings in Minnesota involving federal immigration officers.

Republicans rejected the demands, instead pushing for full funding for the two agencies, resulting in an impasse.

The two agencies could get funding through another bill, which is currently being considered by the House. Meanwhile, immigration enforcement has been funded with $170bn approved by Congress as part of Trump's tax cuts bill last year.

The DHS, which oversees ICE and CBP, has continued to run without routine funds since 14 February, leading to major disruptions and hours-long wait times at airports across the US.

But Thursday's approval cleared the funding deadlock, ensuring security officers at checkpoints can now get paid on time.

In March, after days of long queues at US airports, Trump signed an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, whoare considered essential workers and are required to work without pay during a federal shutdown.

While that eased tensions, the Trump administration warned that emergency DHS funds were set to run out later this week.

Calls for action further intensified after Saturday's shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, where prosecutors say a man attempted to assassinate Trump.

The White House budget office warned that homeland security operations not involved in Trump's immigration crackdown could run out of money in May for workers employed in presidential and airport security.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had resisted bringing the Senate-passed bill to a vote for weeks, calling it inadequate and insisting that immigration enforcement be fully funded, eventually relented.

"We were not going to have lines at TSA. Everybody will get their paychecks now," Johnson told reporters after the vote.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin celebrated the end of the shutdown on X.

"To be clear, this Democrat shutdown NEVER should have happened," he wrote.

Democrats said the shutdown was extended for more than a month by Speaker Johnson for "no reason at all".

"This is the same bill the Senate unanimously passed five weeks ago," said Patty Murray, the top Democrat on government funding in the Senate.

Congressional Republicans now turn their attention to approve up to $70bn in funding for ICE and CBP for the remainder of Trump's term, while Democrats continue to demand tighter oversight and limits on enforcement practices.

Last week, Republicans used a procedural manoeuvre to clear the bill in the Senate that did not require the support of opposition Democrats.

It is unclear when House Republican leaders plan to put the Senate-passed bill to the floor for a vote.