The vote — 71 to 29 — came a day after Democratic senators and President Donald Trump reached an agreement. They joined the package of five bills financing the Pentagon, the Department of State and other government agencies until September 30 two-week funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
On Thursday, Trump publicly urged lawmakers to support the bill. On Friday, only five of 53 Republicans voted against the bill. Democrats were divided — 24 of 47 club members opposed this package.
However, the Senate vote will not prevent it partial suspension of government activitieswhich began Saturday morning because members of the House of Representatives are out of Washington and not scheduled to return until Monday.
On Friday, in a private call with House Republicans, Speaker Mike Johnson said the most likely outcome would be early voting on Monday evening. This requires a two-thirds majority and therefore significant support from Democrats.
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The package worth USD 1.2 trillion (approx. PLN 4.3 trillion) may encounter difficulties in the House of Representatives, especially from hard-line Republicans, who have announced that will vote against any Senate amendments. Many House Democrats also have concerns about temporary DHS funding, which would keep funding for ICE and the Border Patrol at current levels without imposing new restrictions immediately.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he remains in constant contact with Johnson “for better or for worse” about getting the deal through the House, predicting that the speaker is “ready to do everything in his power as soon as possible”. “Let's hope everything goes smoothly there too,” he added.
If the agreement approved by Trump is finally signed, Congress will approve more than 95 percent. federal government financingleaving only the annual budget bill for DHS to be passed. Congress has already passed laws regarding, among others: departments of agriculture, veterans affairs and justice.
– This financially responsible laws, the result of months of hard work and consultation members of both parties and both houses of Congress, said Republican Susan Collins, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, before the final vote. The Office of Management and Budget has issued suspension guidance for agencies that have not yet been funded. They include, among others: sending some employees on vacation.
“We will soon find out if your colleagues understand what is at stake.”
The fact that Republicans agreed to withdraw the year-long DHS bill and replace it with a two-week stopgap measure is a great success for the Democrats. They quickly united around the demand to separate this issue and renegotiate funding for immigration services when federal officers shot and killed 37-year-old US citizen Alex Pretti in Minnesota last week.
Chuck Schumer, who co-created the final agreement, triumphed after the vote: “The agreement we reached today achieved exactly what the Democrats wanted.
Chuck Schumer, minority leader in the US Senate. Washington, January 30, 2026PAP/EPA/WILL OLIVER
But they will need to continue to negotiate with the White House and congressional Republicans to determine what — if any — policy changes can be written into law as part of a long-term bill. Republicans are open to some changes, including: requiring independent investigations. However, they have already rejected some of the Democrats' main demandssuch as requiring a court order for immigration detentions.
— I want my colleagues from the Republican Party to hear this clearly: senators from the Democratic Party will not support the DHS bill, if it does not limit ICE's powers and it won't end the violence, Schumer said. “We'll soon find out if your colleagues understand what's at stake.
Republicans have their own demands, and many of them believe that will be the most likely scenario another temporary funding for DHS. For example, Senator Lindsey Graham wants to vote in the future on a bill banning Washington's funding for cities that do not comply with federal immigration law, the so-called sanctuaries. Other Republicans and the White House point to this as a key issue in upcoming negotiations.
— I demand that my proposal to solve the problem of “sanctuary cities” be at least put to a vote. If you want to vote on changes to improve ICE, I want to put it to the vote an idea that gets to the heart of the problem Graham said.
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