US senators voted in favour of a bill to finance most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is the parent agency of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

It, however, withheld funds from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and part of Customs and Border Protection at the heart of the budget impasse, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's office said in a statement.

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The agreement would fund DHS components such as the Transportation Security Administration and US Coast Guard, the statement said.

The deal, which the Senate approved unanimously without a roll call, next goes to the House, which is expected to consider it on Friday. If approved by the House, the Bill will then be signed by President Donald Trump.

Why was the bill passed? Democrats had previously offered to fund most of DHS, except for the Border Patrol and ICE, saying they wanted to pair funding those agencies with more restrictions on immigration enforcement.

DHS has lacked regular appropriated funding since 14 February, leading TSA personnel and other federal workers and contractors to miss multiple paychecks during the standoff. More than 480 TSA workers quit during the funding lapse.

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Meanwhile, lengthy lines and historically long waits at airport security checkpoints around the country, as unpaid Transportation Security Administration agents called out sick or quit altogether, put pressure on lawmakers to find a quicker way to resolve the impasse, Bloomberg reported.

Affected airports included Atlanta, Houston and New York. Lines have snaked through terminals, baggage claims and even outside in some cases, as frustrated passengers griped about the waits and the potential of missed flights.

Trump steps in As per the report, Trump took some of the pressure off lawmakers when he said on Thursday that he would sign an order to pay TSA officers in an effort to alleviate the airport disruptions, tapping funds from his 2025 tax and spending bill to cover those salaries.

The unusual move sidelined Congress, which has wide latitude over the federal budget and agency spending.

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Democrats were poised to walk away from the DHS shutdown debate without assorted reforms to immigration enforcement polices they had sought.

However, they notched a handful of victories: the federal immigration surge in Minneapolis was rolled back after the killing of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, and Trump eventually removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Bloomberg said.

“Finally, Republicans have relented, and we are now on track to fund the areas we agree on and get TSA agents paid, get our airports moving again, and fund important disaster relief and cybersecurity work,” Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, said in a statement.

What's the deal? This bill, approved by the Senate on Friday, would provide funding for the TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other agencies.

Under the deal, Republicans agreed to a Democratic offer to finance most of the department’s operations, except for ICE and Border Patrol.

The ICE had already received funding for multiple years as part of Trump’s tax and spending bill last year, but Republicans had wanted to add billions in regular funding as well.

The funding package puts no new limits on immigration enforcement, which has remained largely uninterrupted by the shutdown.