Sponsors (2)
The bill keeps DHS administrative and key functions running through funding gaps to avoid service and safety disruptions, at the cost of reducing Congressional control over spending and creating potential for increased, less-transparent DHS outlays.
Federal employees, DHS staff, and law-enforcement: DHS can continue essential administrative operations during a funding lapse, avoiding immediate service interruptions and helping maintain immigration and enforcement support that depend on administrative continuity.
Taxpayers and constituents: Congressional offices will continue to receive responses from DHS during a lapse, preserving channels for legislative oversight and constituent inquiries so lawmakers can still get information and assistance.
Taxpayers and federal operations: Automatic funding for essential administrative activity avoids the disruption and higher costs of emergency stopgap measures or rushed contracting during shutdowns.
Taxpayers and Congress: Allows DHS to continue operations without fresh Congressional approval during a funding lapse, reducing lawmakers' leverage over spending decisions and weakening appropriations-era oversight.
Taxpayers: The provision's open-ended 'such amounts as may be necessary' language could increase DHS outlays during a lapse and obscure fiscal accountability, making spending harder to track and control.
Taxpayers and the general public: Prioritizing continued responses to congressional communications during a lapse may be perceived as privileging legislative relations over other services, potentially diverting limited staff attention from public-facing work.
Based on analysis of 1 section of legislative text.
Automatically appropriates amounts necessary to keep DHS administrative functions running during any FY2026 funding lapse, including legislative and ICE congressional-relations offices.
Automatically funds the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during any FY2026 lapse in appropriations to cover administrative expenses needed to keep the Department operating. The appropriation is open-ended for amounts necessary to sustain DHS functions during the lapse and explicitly covers the Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs and ICE’s Office of Congressional Relations, and directs the Secretary to use funds to ensure DHS continues all functions it would perform absent the lapse, including responding to congressional communications.
Official title: To provide funding for administrative expenses of the Department of Homeland Security during any lapse in appropriations during fiscal year 2026, to require that the Department be responsive to congressional offices during such a lapse in appropriations, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 20, 2026 by Julie Johnson · Last progress February 20, 2026