Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act

Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act

This bill provides appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the remainder of FY2026. It also ends the partial DHS shutdown that began on February 14, 2026, because the continuing resolution (CR) that was funding DHS expired and a regular FY2026 DHS appropriations bill had not been enacted.

Specifically, the bill provides appropriations to DHS for Departmental Management, Intelligence, Situational Awareness, and Oversight, including

the Office of the Secretary and Executive Management;

the Management Directorate;

Intelligence, Analysis, and Situational Awareness; and

the Office of Inspector General.

In addition, the bill provides appropriations for Security, Enforcement, and Investigations, including

U.S. Customs and Border Protection,

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,

the Transportation Security Administration,

the U.S. Coast Guard, and

the U.S. Secret Service.

The bill provides appropriations for Protection, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, including

the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and

the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The bill provides appropriations for Research, Development, Training, and Services, including

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,

the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, and

the Science and Technology Directorate.

The bill also authorizes back pay, in accordance with current law, for federal employees who were affected by the partial DHS shutdown.

Finally, the bill ratifies and approves certain obligations that were incurred during the partial DHS shutdown, including obligations incurred to maintain the essential level of activity to protect life and property and bring about an orderly termination of government functions.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 20, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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.