Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and President Trump eventually coalesced around a plan to fund the entirety of DHS on two parallel tracks. The first would involve the House passing the Senate DHS bill to immediately reopen the department. The second involves funding ICE and Border Patrol through the budget reconciliation process, which will allow Republicans to approve a bill without support from Senate Democrats.
The president ordered DHS to redirect money to pay employees in March, but Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that funding to make payroll would dry up by the beginning of May, increasing pressure on lawmakers to pass the Senate bill.
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