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.
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on appropriationA law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
This bill provides appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the administrative expenses necessary to operate the department for the duration of a lapse in appropriations. This includes appropriations for the DHS Office of Legislative Affairs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Congressional Relations.
With respect to any lapse in appropriations during FY2026, DHS must use the funding provided by this bill to ensure that it performs all functions that would be performed in the absence of such a lapse, including responding to communications transmitted to DHS during the lapse by congressional offices. (There is currently a partial government shutdown in effect for DHS agencies and programs due to a lapse in FY2026 appropriations for DHS.)
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 20, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 20, 2026: Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Julie Johnson (D-TX) introduced it on February 20, 2026, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 20, 2026, 202 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 202 days ago, on February 20, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers