WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives takes up legislation on Monday that would lift a partial government shutdown that started over the weekend, with a final vote expected on Tuesday.
Funding for the Pentagon, the Department of Transportation and several other agencies expired on Saturday, as a dispute over immigration enforcement complicated efforts to approve spending legislation. So far disruption has been minimal, as workers deemed “essential,” such as troops and air traffic controllers, have remained on the job.
The government has endured 10 funding gaps of three days or fewer since 1977, most of which had little real-world effect, according to the Congressional Research Service. Unlike the last shutdown, which lasted a record 43 days in October and November of 2025, this shutdown is expected to be brief.
A deal that would restore funding and allow lawmakers to continue to negotiate immigration enforcement tactics passed the Senate by a wide bipartisan margin on Friday, and Republican leaders in the House are laying the groundwork for a quick vote in their chamber.
Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chamber’s No. 3 Republican, said the House is due to vote on the deal on Tuesday. A House committee is due to consider the spending deal today, and debate could stretch late into the night.
Passage is not guaranteed.
Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 218-213 margin, and Democrats will pick up another seat when their newest member, Christian Menefee of Texas, is sworn in.
Some House Democrats have objected to the funding deal, worked out between U.S. President Donald Trump and their counterparts in the Senate, saying it should provide more time to negotiate new limits on the federal immigration agents carrying out Trump’s crackdown.
Agents with the Department of Homeland Security killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota last month, stirring widespread outrage.
Some Republicans on the party’s right flank also may raise objections.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Nolan McCaskill; editing by Andy Sullivan and Nick Zieminski)
Comments