Senate today sends DHS funding bill to a House vote. Is shutdown over?

A deal to end the government shutdown has been reached, but is the DHS shutdown over? Not quite. In a rare pro forma Senate session today, April 2, Senate Majority Leader John Thune sent the DHS funding bill to a possible House vote today — making it possible the longest government shutdown in history ended today.

But the partial government shutdown isn't over, and the DHS shutdown continues into day 47 today, since a House vote to end the shutdown and pass the Senate's DHS funding bill didn't happen.

The House returned for a brief pro forma session at 8:30 a.m. ET this morning; however, the House took no action and won't return again until next week.

In an attempt to end the nearly seven-week partial shutdown, Thune, a South Dakota Republican, made a rare appearance on the Senate floor live around 7 a.m. ET this morning during a pro forma session that does not typically involve doing Senate business.

Thune cleared the way by killing a 60-day, stopgap bill that the House had previously passed — and a DHS funding bill in the 2026 budget that has no chance of garnering enough Senate Democrat support to pass.

Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, announced Wednesday they reached a deal to end the DHS shutdown, saying House and Senate Republicans agreed to pass the previously approved bipartisan Senate bill to fund DHS — minus ICE and Border Patrol, which is already robustly funded by Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill.

The sudden about-face by House allows for a two-track plan to fund DHS through a spending bill and a budget reconciliation package later this year. But adding Republican-pushed measures, like Trump's SAVE America Act, could slow down progress.

If the House votes on the Senate bill and it passes, it would be sent to Trump for a signature. But when is the next vote to end the shutdown? The House and Senate are on recess until April 13, but are briefly popping into Capitol Hill, but is the shutdown end in sight?

Deal to end government shutdown live updates

Yes, a deal to end the DHS shutdown has been reached, announced Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Congressional Republican leaders.

During a rare appearance during a pro forma session live on the Senate floor at 7 a.m. ET this morning, April 2, Thune sent a Senate bill to partially fund the Department of Homeland Security back to the House for a vote to end the shutdown. The House returned at 8:30 a.m. ET, but a House vote to end the DHS shutdown didn't take place.

The next step to end the shutdown? Republican leaders plan to move forward with a two-track plan to fund DHS through the spending bill and a budget reconciliation package later this year. But it won't codify ICE reforms, Thune told reporters this morning, and if things like the SAVE America Act are thrown in, it won't help, slowing down the process to fund DHS.

Is the government still shut down? When is government shutdown ending?

Is the partial government shutdown over? Not yet. In the latest DHS shutdown news today, the House took no action in an early pro forma session to end the government shutdown this morning, April 2. Led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the Senate sent the DHS funding bill, that leaves out money for ICE and Border Patrol, to the House for a vote. There was hope a House vote today to end the shutdown could happen; however, that did not happen.

When is next vote to end the shutdown? House vote on government shutdown

The House and Senate were live in brief, pro formas sessions this morning, April 2, but both have adjourned. The House will return Monday, April 6, for another pro forma session. The Senate returns Monday, April 6, for their own pro forma session.

What are pro forma sessions? Pro forma session meaning

A pro forma session is when Congress — the House and Senate — technically meets, but doesn't debate, vote or pass laws, according to the Library of Congress. It's often with very few members — and rarely does the Senate majority leader appear, like Thune did — to meet constitutional or procedural requirements. In other words, it's done as a formality, with no real business happening.

TSA shutdown; is TSA still shut down during partial government shutdown?

We are currently in a partial government shutdown, or Department of Homeland Security shutdown, although the term "TSA shutdown" is widely used to describe the ongoing DHS funding lapse that has caused TSA agents to go without paychecks for weeks — Trump has since ordered DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA agents.

A TSA shut down refers to the over 500 TSA workers at major US airports who have quit and the thousands of TSA employees who have caused callout rates to skyrocket since the shutdown started Feb. 14.

How many days has the government been shutdown?

The partial government shutdown started Feb. 14, 2026, and we have hit 47 days today, Thursday, April 2, 2026. We are in the longest government shutdown in history, surpassing the government shutdown 2025 that lasted 43 days.

Lori Comstock is a New Jersey-based news reporter covering trending news with USA TODAY Network's Mid-Atlantic Connect Team. She covers health and other news in the Northeast, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Reach her at [email protected].