WASHINGTON — Congress released its final tranche of funding bills Tuesday, with lawmakers hopeful to stave off a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.
The massive $1.2 trillion bipartisan package will fund several agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education through fiscal year 2026. The House is expected to vote on the package later this week.
After contentious negotiations on the DHS funding bill, made especially tense by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shooting a woman in Minneapolis this month, bipartisan appropriators laid out $64.4 billion for the agency. That includes $513 million to sustain 22,000 Border Patrol agents, according to the House Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, was involved in the negotiations with Democrats, which she said were happening in “good faith” to reach a deal on the controversial funding bill. Her hope to add the bill to the final, larger package was fulfilled on Tuesday.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, the top Senate Democratic appropriator, highlighted how Democrats “secured important, although still insufficient, new constraints on DHS” in the package.
For instance, the bill allocates $20 million to purchase and operate body cameras for ICE officers and Customs and Border Patrol agents who are conducting immigration enforcement operations. It also directs the department to ensure there is de-escalation training for immigration enforcement officers. But those constraints might not be enough to sway some Democrats to support the bill.
“I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, House Appropriations Committee ranking member, said in a statement. “I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency.”
DeLauro added that the House is expected to hold a separate vote on the DHS bill in addition to a vote on the other three bills in the package.
House Republicans touted the $3.8 billion for custody operations to detain and deport undocumented immigrants and the elimination of funding for the Shelter Services Program.
The DHS bill also encompasses funding for TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA.
The four-bill package completes all 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress needs to pass before Jan. 30 to fully fund the government.
Rep. Dale Strong, R-Huntsville, a member of the Appropriations Committee, called the release of all the bills “monumental.”
“It’s been a while since we’ve had regular order,” Strong told Alabama Daily News last week. “You look at it to get 12 bills out of the Appropriations Committee is a huge step in the right direction, but I won’t be satisfied till all 12 bills pass.”
The package provides more than $116 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, which Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, oversees as chairman of that appropriations subcommittee. The bill allocates $418 million for rural health and maintains $1.9 billion to support community health centers.
“Investments are directed to where they matter most: into lifesaving biomedical research and resilient medical supply chains, classrooms and training that prepare the next generation for success, and rural hospitals and primary care to end the chronic disease epidemic,” House Republican appropriators said in a news release.
The package also rejects President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health, allocating $48.7 billion to the agency, a $415 million increase from the 2025 enacted level, according to House Democrats. It rejects the proposed 15% cap on indirect costs for NIH grants at research institutions.
The Department of Education is allocated $79 billion in the bill. It ensures a range of programs remain under the direction of the department, Democrats highlighted, despite calls from Trump to abolish the agency.
For the Department of Defense, the funding bill provides $838.7 billion to the Pentagon, a more than $8 billion increase from Trump’s budget request. It includes a 3.8% pay raise for service members, authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act.
It allocates $13.4 billion to the Golden Dome, Trump’s missile defense shield initiative, including $9.6 billion in Missile Defense Agency programs and $3.8 billion in Space Force programs, according to House Republican appropriators.
The final package includes numerous earmarks for Alabama projects, including funding for airport improvements, highway infrastructure and storm drainage upgrades.
The House and Senate have passed six of the 12 appropriations bills so far. The lower chamber passed an additional two bills last week. The Senate is expected to vote on the remaining bills upon its return to Washington next week, ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline.