House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he is confident that the House will end the partial government shutdown that was initiated on Jan. 31 after Congress failed to approve a measure to keep the government funded.
Johnson appeared to have been referring to transportation problems related to recent winter storms that left areas without power or canceled thousands of flights late last month.
He added that after conversations with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Republicans in the lower congressional chamber have “got to pass a rule and [will] probably do this” mostly on their own, noting that that is “very unfortunate.”
“After the Senate acted over the weekend, we will now have 11 of 12 separate appropriations bills approved by both chambers,” Johnson said. “Because they modified our package, they sent it over a little differently, which means we’ve got to address the bills again.”
Johnson, whose party has a razor-thin majority in the House, told NBC on Feb. 1 that the GOP’s intention is to fund all agencies except for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the department that runs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies, by Feb. 3.
When that happens, he said, “Then we will have two weeks of good-faith negotiations to figure it out.”
Democrats are demanding reforms to ICE such as requiring mandatory body cameras, and they also want to see the end of roving patrols and ICE agents’ use of face masks. Lawmakers said they would seek to shut down the government after two protesters were shot in Minneapolis last month while clashing with federal agents.
“I just don’t see how, in good conscience, Democrats can vote for continuing ICE funding [after the shootings],” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said on “Meet the Press” on Feb. 1.
The Trump administration may make changes to some DHS practices, but ICE agents are still likely to wear masks to protect their identities, Johnson said.
“There’s been tragedies in Minnesota and in Minneapolis in particular, brought about in large measure by the circumstances on the ground,” Johnson said, noting that agitators have been doxxing and threatening ICE agents.
“[The] reason that ICE agents wear masks is to protect their own identities and protect their own families, and in some circumstances, they’ve had a price put on their heads effectively by local officials,” he said. “And that’s what’s created the dangerous conditions.”
In multiple statements, DHS said violent attacks on ICE agents have skyrocketed in recent months under the Trump administration, which has vowed to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants—particularly those with violent criminal records. In October 2025, a man armed with a rifle opened fire on an ICE office in Dallas, killing at least two people before he killed himself.
The shutdown comes just weeks after the longest government shutdown in history ended in mid-November 2025.
