The closure of the Department of Homeland Security has now become the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, at 45 days and counting. It appeared to have finally been resolved in the wee hours of Friday, March 27, when the Senate unanimously approved a bill to reopen DHS, albeit with no new funding for immigration enforcement (not that ICE and the Border Patrol really needed it given the slush fund created for them by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act). It was assumed at the time that the House would quickly rubber-stamp the bill and Congress could then enjoy a two-week Easter recess.

But no: After House Freedom Caucus members angrily rejected any sort of cooperation with Democrats on DHS funding, House Speaker Mike Johnson whipped through a party-line short-term funding bill for the department that included immigration enforcement, blowing up the Senate deal and assuring a continued shutdown. Both congressional chambers have now adjourned for two weeks amid mutual recriminations between House and Senate Republicans. ICE and the Border Patrol are operating as before, while the rest of DHS is shuttered, though even before last week’s late dramatics in Congress, President Trump ordered DHS to pay the TSA workers whose absence from work was beginning to paralyze airports across the country. It’s unclear whether that is legal; even if it is, it may not be effective given its temporary nature and the frustration........

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