WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump swiftly signed bipartisan legislation Thursday to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, but not its immigration enforcement operations, shortly after the package won final approval in the House, ending the longest agency shutdown in history.

The quick action after weeks of political blame brought an abrupt end to the monthslong standoff that began after Trump's deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis launched a reckoning on Capitol Hill over the funding for the president's agenda.

"I guess I'm flattered that the bill that we passed four times, minus ICE … was finally agreed [to]" Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), the chairman of the House Appropriation Committee's subcommittee on Homeland Security, said in a brief interview with The Nevada Independent on Thursday.

The White House had warned that temporary funding Trump had tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other agency personnel would "soon run out," and that sparked new threats of airport disruptions. The shutdown lasted 76 days.

"I think finally, the White House … basically just called up the speaker and said, 'I need this done because I'm out of razzle dazzle, and I need the money to run Homeland. Give me the money and give it to me now,'" Amodei said, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). "At least they acknowledged that the Congress does have a function, you know. It's called appropriations."

DHS has been without routine funds since Feb. 14, causing hardship for workers, though much of Trump's immigration agenda and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies that are central to the dispute are being funded separately.

"There are a couple of oversight things on ICE … that were kept out," Amodei added. "I can't tell you about it. I wasn't part of that discussion."

The House swiftly voted by voice, without a formal roll call, to pass the measure. It was an abrupt end to the standoff that began months ago, after Trump's deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis launched a reckoning on Capitol Hill over the money being sent to fuel the president's agenda.

"You wonder why people think what they think," Amodei said, speaking about the public's disillusionment with Congress. 

Trump's deportation strategy fueled the dispute

Democrats refused to fund ICE and the Border Patrol without changes to those operations after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents during protests against the immigration actions in Minneapolis. Republicans would not go along with a plan pushed by Democrats to fund TSA and the other parts of DHS without the money for ICE and Border Patrol.

While the Senate unanimously approved the bipartisan package a month ago, the bill languished in the House.

Amodei expressed frustration about the lengthy process in an interview earlier this month.

"Everybody's playing political yeehaw," he said.

Johnson himself had just last month called the bill a "joke."

To break the impasse, Republicans in both the House and Senate decided to tackle the immigration enforcement funding on their own through what is called budget reconciliation, a cumbersome weekslong process ahead.

By beginning that budget process, Johnson was able to unlock a broader bipartisan bill for TSA agents and the rest of DHS. House Republicans late Wednesday adopted a budget resolution on a largely party-line vote, 215-211, that is focused on eventually providing $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations for the remainder of Trump's time in office and ensure Democrats can no longer block funding. Trump's term ends in January 2029.

Johnson acknowledged after the vote that he had trashed the bill before. But he said that with the new budget process for funding immigration enforcement on its own, he was ready to pass it "with no crazy Democrat reforms."

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said isolating the immigration-related money on a separate track is "offensive to the men and women who serve in ICE and Border Patrol, and are serving this country every single day."

White House warning

The White House urged Congress this week to act, warning that the money Trump tapped to temporarily pay TSA and other workers through executive actions was drying up.

"DHS will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk," said a memo Tuesday from the Office of Management and Budget. Most of its employees are considered essential and have remained on the job.

Immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through the flush of new cash — some $170 billion — that Congress approved as part of Trump's tax cuts bill last year. Others, including at the TSA, have had to rely on Trump's intervention through executive action to ensure their paychecks.

But with salaries topping $1.6 billion every two weeks, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently, those funds were dwindling.

More than 1,000 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, according to Airlines for America, the U.S. airlines trade group that on Wednesday called on Congress to fully fund the Cabinet department.

"The urgency to provide predictable and stable funding for TSA is growing stronger by the day," the group said in a statement. "Time and time again, our nation's aviation workers and customers have been the victim of Congress' failure to do their jobs."

Complicated budget strategy ahead

The go-it-alone strategy under the budget resolution process is the same that was used last year to approve Trump's tax cuts bill, which all Democrats opposed.

With the budget resolution now adopted by the House and Senate, lawmakers will next draft the actual $70 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding bill, with voting expected in May.

Trump has said he wants it on his desk by June 1.

"Thanks to our pressure, Speaker Johnson was forced to end his Republican shutdown," Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) wrote in a statement on Thursday. "This could have been done weeks ago, avoiding long lines at airports, security issues, and missed paychecks. By delaying a vote on the bipartisan Senate deal for over a month, House Republicans proved that they would choose political games over the welfare of their constituents."

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Associated Press writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.