House passes legislation to end partial shutdown
By: Zachary Schermele
and Zac Anderson
USA Today
WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives passed a legislative package ending the partial government shutdown the afternoon of February 3, [2026] sending it to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature.
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The vote was 217-214. Most Republicans and 21 Democrats supported fully reopening the government, while 21 Republicans voted with most Democrats not to end the shutdown.
..... The measure brought relatively swift resolution to a brief funding lapse amid widespread concern with federal immigration enforcement since the January gillions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
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However, the race is now on for lawmakers to reach a deal over reforms to the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Mitigation and Customs enforcement an Customs and Border Portentous and whose funding now runs out February 13. [2026] The funding measure extends DHS spending for a short time, a decision meant to buy time for Democratic lawmakers to negotiate with the GOP and White House over changes to the agency.
..... Whether such an agreement will come to fruition on such a tight timeline is looking increasingly questionable - especially with disunity among House and Senate Democrats.
..... "The Democrats are in a family squabble," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, told reporters.
..... He stared down a family squabble of his own earlier in the day. on an initial high-stakes procedural vote, Johnson could spare only one Republican defection. that's exactly what resulted but not without Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and John Ross, R-Tennessee, initially voted against advancing the legislation. Four GOP lawmakers - Representatives Byron Donalds, R-Florida, Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee, Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, and Troy Nehls, R-Texas - initially abstained during the voting. Had they not changed their minds, the vote would have failed 212-216 after every Democrat voted against the measure.
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Instead, Republicans leaders kept the vote open and worked to convince the holdouts as Johnson huddled with them on the house floor. The four abstainers eventually voted to advance the bill and Rose flipped his vote, leaving Massie the only "no" vote on the procedural step.
..... The drama underscored just how thin Republicans; majority is in the House, making virtually any piece of legislation a chance for lawmakers to flex their political leverage.
.... The caucus had previously fended off a threat by Representatives Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, and Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, to vote against the bill unless it was amended to incorporate voter ID legislation. Trump pushed back against changing the bill in a social media post, and Luna said senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, agreed to hold a separate vote on the voter ID bill, according to Fox News.
..... Trump has been negotiation with Senate Democrats on ICE reforms, but Johnson said House Republicans would engage on the issue of amnesty."
..... "You can't in any way lighten the enforcement requirement of federal immigration law," Johanson said in a news conference.