From PBS NewsHour.

The U.S. Senate has taken a pivotal first step toward funding ICE and Border Patrol and, potentially, finding a way to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security in the coming weeks.

DHS, as a whole, remains unfunded, but the measure voted on early Thursday morning would allow Republicans to get around a Democratic filibuster of ICE and Border Patrol. The measure still has several more steps to go before it could take effect.

Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, so even a few objections within the party could derail the budget plan.

DHS has been shut since mid-February; it’s the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

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