The US Congress on Thursday approved funding for most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending a record-breaking partial government shutdown that has disrupted critical agencies for more than two months.

The House approved the measure, already passed by the Senate, sending it to US President Donald Trump for signature. It will fund key DHS agencies through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.

It does not include new money for immigration and border enforcement, leaving unresolved the political dispute that triggered the shutdown.

The House cleared the bill by voice vote just hours before a critical deadline, after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that emergency funds used to cover salaries would soon run dry.

The department has been partially shuttered since February 14, making it the longest funding lapse of its kind, at 75 days.

Under the legislation, agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service will resume normal funding.

But Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and Border Patrol – at the centre of a bitter partisan fight – are excluded from the deal.

The stand-off began when Democrats refused to support funding for immigration enforcement without new restrictions on tactics such as raids in sensitive locations and the use of masks by officers.

Republicans rejected those demands, instead pushing for full funding of the agencies without new conditions. (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp