Watch: Trump signs bill to end partial government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed a nearly $1.2 trillion government funding bill Tuesday that ends the partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend and sets the stage for an intense debate in Congress over Homeland Security funding.

Watch the full event in the video player above.

The President quickly signed the draft law after the House of Representatives approved it by a majority of 217 votes to 214.

He watches: Schumer and Jeffries hold press conference as DHS funding negotiations begin

“This bill is a great victory for the American people,” Trump said.

Tuesday’s vote concluded Congress’ work on 11 annual appropriations bills to fund government agencies and programs through September 30.

He watches: The House of Representatives narrowly approves a bill to end the shutdown, but the Department of Homeland Security funding battle remains

Passing the legislation was the end point of one funding battle, but the beginning of another. That’s because the package only funds the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, through February 13, at the request of Democrats demanding more restrictions on immigration enforcement after the shooting deaths of Alex Peretti and Renee Judd by federal officers in Minneapolis.

Leaders dig in to fight

There are difficult negotiations ahead, especially for the agency that enforces the country’s immigration laws — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was quick to warn Democrats that they would not support any additional temporary funding for Homeland Security without fundamental changes to immigration operations, raising the possibility of another shutdown of the department and its agencies.

“We need radical change to ensure that ICE and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security behave like every other law enforcement organization in the country,” Jeffries said.

He watches: Jeffries outlines Democrats’ demands for changes at DHS and ICE amid funding battle

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects the two sides will be able to reach an agreement by the deadline.

“This is not the time to play around with this funding,” Johnson said. “We hope they will act in good faith over the next 10 days as we negotiate this matter.” “The president has reached out again.”

But Johnson’s counterpart across the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, seemed less optimistic about reaching an agreement. “There are always miracles, aren’t there?” Thon told reporters.

Voting without margin of error

The funding bill approved by Congress on Tuesday had bipartisan provisions.

Republicans have avoided a massive, sweeping funding bill known as omnibus as part of this year’s appropriations process. They say such laws, often introduced before the holiday season with lawmakers eager to get home, have contributed to increased federal spending.

Democrats were able to push back some of Trump’s harsher cuts while adding language to help ensure the money was spent as Congress intended.

He watches: The House of Representatives approves a draft law on government funding to end the partial closure

However, Johnson needs near-unanimous support from his Republican conference to advance to a final vote on the bill. He narrowly won it during a roll call that remained open for about an hour as leaders worked to garner support from a handful of GOP lawmakers who were trying to advance other priorities unrelated to the funding measure.

The final vote couldn’t have been much easier for GOP leaders. In the end, 21 Republicans sided with the vast majority of Democrats in voting against the funding bill, while that same number of Democrats sided with the vast majority of Republicans in voting yes.

On Monday, Trump commented in a social media post, calling on Republicans to remain united and telling his opponents: “There can be no change at this time.”

Key differences from the last lockdown

The current partial shutdown that is coming to an end differs in many ways from the fall impasse, which affected more agencies and lasted a record 43 days.

Next, there was discussion about extending temporary benefits during the coronavirus pandemic for those who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were unsuccessful in including these subsidies as part of a package to end the shutdown.

Congress has made important progress since then. Some of the six appropriations bills passed before Tuesday ensured the current shutdown was less damaging. For example, important programs such as food assistance and the operation of national parks and historic sites are already fully funded as of September 30.

The remaining bills passed Tuesday mean the vast majority are funded by the federal government.

“You might say that now that it’s 96% government funded, what’s there is only 4%?” Johnson said. “But it’s a very significant 4%.”

Associated Press video journalist Nathan Elgren and writers Lisa Mascaro, Joy Cappelletti and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.