After negotiations over enforcement restrictions collapsed, lawmakers approved $70 billion, funding that will give the Trump administration resources to continue its immigration crackdown through nearly the end of the president's second term.
The watchdog found contracting missteps, health lapses and oversight breakdowns at a Texas immigration facility, raising concerns as the federal government moves ahead with a far larger detention expansion.
The Senate moved the package forward after bipartisan talks over immigration enforcement restrictions collapsed, clearing the way for House consideration of the funding measure.
A longtime DHS official with prior ties to Obama-era immigration enforcement and private detention work is stepping back into a top role at a pivotal moment for the agency.
Cameron Hamilton, who was removed after publicly opposing efforts to eliminate FEMA, would return to lead the agency as the administration pushes states to take on a larger disaster response role.
The Professional Services Council also reported that several contracting companies faced the threat of closure due to missed reimbursements from the government as a result of the funding lapse.
House Republicans’ push to change a Senate funding bill is slowing efforts to end the DHS shutdown and raising the risk of missed paychecks for federal workers.
Democrats highlight cases of U.S. citizens harmed in immigration enforcement actions during a House hearing that Republicans largely boycotted and key Trump officials skipped.
The decision reverses earlier plans to bring on roughly 100 student interns through the federal cyber scholarship program, leaving participants in limbo after months of shifting guidance and adding new uncertainty around job placement requirements tied to the award.
Amid an extended funding standoff affecting parts of the Department of Homeland Security, GOP leaders are considering whether the budget reconciliation process could provide a path to advance funding and immigration priorities without Democratic votes.
Senate Republicans are preparing a reconciliation push that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for three years, a move that could help end the Homeland Security Department shutdown but it faces opposition from Democrats and uncertainty in the House.
A proposed FY27 overhaul would still leave DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis answerable to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, despite questions about its oversight.