Congress remains in recess this week amid as what is now longest partial government shutdown in history affecting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), enters its 53rd day.

The Senate agreed by voice vote to table a House measure last week that would have extended funding for the entire department for eight weeks, restoring the bill to its original Senate-passed version and giving the House another chance to act. The move followed President Trump's decision to throw his support behind the Senate proposal, which pairs DHS funding (excluding ICE and CBP) with a separate plan to fund those immigration enforcement agencies through a reconciliation bill in the coming months.

Not all House Republicans are on board with the plan. On Thursday, Speaker Johnson pitched them on accepting the Senate bill, arguing they have no choice given that the Senate lacks the 60 votes required for anything else. Trump has set a June 1 deadline for passing the new reconciliation bill, a tight timeline considering it took roughly five months when Republicans used the process to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. As a reminder, reconciliation bills require only a simple majority in both chambers to pass but may only include measures related directly to revenues and expenditures.

What’s more, the new reconciliation bill is expected to include including military funding, tax changes, and possibly an array of other Republican priorities. The reconciliation bill will likely be one of the last “trains to leave the station” before the mid-term election. Republicans facing tough reelection bids, or who are retiring, may look at the bill as their last real opportunity to leave their mark before Election Day.

On Friday, President Trump released his fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, once again calling for the elimination of the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). As NEFI members are aware, LIHEAP continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and so the recommendation is not likely to be looked upon favorably. The budget proposal also seeks significant increases in funding for defense, homeland security, and immigration enforcement, to be achieved in part through reconciliation rather than the regular appropriations process, kicking off what is expected to be a difficult appropriations cycle for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2026.