Congress released the final four-bill "minibus" Tuesday to fund key agencies ahead of a Jan. 30 deadline that could trigger a shutdown. Democrats say they forced cuts to ICE detention capacity, trimmed CBP funding by more than $1 billion and secured new DHS constraints, including $20 million for body cameras. The House is expected to vote before its recess, then the measures will move to the Senate for final consideration.
Congress Releases Final Four-Bill 'Minibus' as Jan. 30 Shutdown Deadline Nears
File: Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, left, and Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, during a hearing on June 25, 2025. / Credit: Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images(Eric Lee / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Washington — Congressional leaders on Tuesday released the text of the final four appropriations bills — a "minibus" — as lawmakers race to avert a federal shutdown when temporary funding expires on Jan. 30.
The package would fund the Departments of Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and Homeland Security. It follows earlier stopgap measures: a three-bill package passed in November that temporarily extended most government spending, plus additional bills approved since then in both chambers.
House leaders had removed the Homeland Security bill from an earlier package last week after the deadly shooting of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Renee Goodby in Minneapolis. Lawmakers also have debated whether the bills include meaningful reforms to immigration enforcement.
Democratic response and changes
Top Senate Democratic appropriator Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Tuesday that Democrats pushed back on several Republican priorities in the minibus. "In this bill, Democrats defeated Republicans' hard-fought push to give ICE an even bigger annual budget, successfully cut ICE's detention budget and capacity, cut CBP's budget by over $1 billion, and secured important, although still insufficient, new constraints on DHS," Murray said. She added the bill "rejects all Republican poison pill riders and significantly reduces Secretary Noem's ability to move around funding as she sees fit under a CR."
"In this bill, Democrats defeated Republicans' hard-fought push to give ICE an even bigger annual budget, successfully cut ICE's detention budget and capacity, cut CBP's budget by over $1 billion, and secured important, although still insufficient, new constraints on DHS." — Sen. Patty Murray
Democrats highlighted new limits on the Department of Homeland Security's ability to reallocate funds for immigration enforcement if reporting requirements are not met, added training requirements for officers, and a $20 million allocation for body-worn cameras for immigration enforcement agents.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top House Democratic appropriator, acknowledged some colleagues "may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE," but said the package "takes several steps in the right direction" even though it does not include broader reforms some Democrats sought.
Both Democratic appropriators warned that the alternatives — another short-term continuing resolution or a government shutdown — would not meaningfully curb ICE because of funding commitments made in last year's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
Next steps
The House is expected to vote on the remaining measures before members depart for a scheduled recess at the end of the week. The Homeland Security bill is likely to be considered separately from the other three. If approved by the House, the package will move to the Senate, which will have only a few days to approve the outstanding funding bills by the Jan. 30 deadline before sending them to the president for signature.
The minibus remains politically fraught: it attempts to balance competing priorities on defense, domestic programs and immigration enforcement while giving both parties reasons to claim partial victories ahead of next week's votes.
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