Trump Signs Funding Package, Ending Brief Partial Government Shutdown

Washington:
US President Donald Trump has signed a major funding package, bringing an end to the partial government shutdown that began on Saturday.

According to a report by news agency Xinhua, the bill was narrowly passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, while it had already received approval from the Senate on Friday.

The latest funding package will provide financial support to several US federal agencies for the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The agencies covered under the bill include the Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

However, funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which was originally included in the broader package, has been removed. Instead, DHS will receive a two-week continuing resolution at existing funding levels. This temporary measure will allow both political parties and the White House to continue negotiations on immigration enforcement.

Recent deadly shooting incidents involving federal law enforcement officers in the state of Minneapolis have prompted Democrats to push for changes in the functioning of immigration agencies. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has stated that the DHS funding bill will not receive votes for passage in the Senate unless Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is properly regulated and overhauled through legislation.

In recent years, increasing political polarisation between the Republican and Democratic parties has repeatedly pushed the US federal government into shutdowns or to the brink of such crises. A record-breaking federal government shutdown that lasted 43 days had ended just two months ago