H.R. 8029 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act
Cosponsors: none · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-09
Introduced: 2026-03-20
Latest action (2026-04-02): Received in the Senate.
What H.R. 8029 does, in plain terms
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.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Constitutionally sound
Graded 2026-10-09
SI-generated grade · five published checks · not individually reviewed by a person · methodology
HR 8029 is a routine appropriations bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security, ends a partial funding lapse, provides back pay to affected federal employees, and ratifies obligations necessary to protect life and property. Congress has explicit constitutional authority to appropriate funds under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, and the bill does not infringe any constitutional right, individual liberty, or due process guarantee.
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✓ Passes · Enumerated powers
Congress's Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 power to lay and collect taxes to provide for the common defense and general welfare, combined with Article I, Section 9, Clause 7's requirement that money be drawn from the Treasury only by appropriations made by law, fully authorizes this bill. Funding DHS components, paying employees, and ratifying necessary obligations all fall squarely within the spen… -
✓ Passes · Bill of Rights
The bill is a funding measure. It does not regulate speech, religion, assembly, the press, or petition; it does not affect the right to keep and bear arms; it does not authorize quartering of soldiers; it does not authorize searches or seizures; it does not compel self-incrimination or deny due process; and it does not implicate trial rights, jury rights, or cruel and unusual punishment. The Tenth… -
✓ Passes · Individual sovereignty
Appropriations for federal agencies do not by themselves restrict what individuals may do with their person, property, speech, labor, or belief. The bill merely provides funding for government operations and remedies harms caused by the funding lapse. Any downstream enforcement actions remain subject to existing constitutional limits, but this bill imposes no new restriction on individual liberty. -
✓ Passes · Decentralization
The activities funded are inherently federal: border and customs enforcement, immigration, transportation security, Coast Guard operations, Secret Service protection, cybersecurity, and federal emergency management. These functions cannot be performed by an individual, family, local community, or state alone without federal involvement because they involve national sovereignty, interstate and fore… -
✓ Passes · Due process and takings
The bill provides back pay to affected federal employees and ratifies obligations incurred to protect life and property during the shutdown, neither of which deprives any person of life, liberty, or property without due process. Ratifying necessary obligations prevents harm and does not constitute a taking; it also gives affected employees the pay they are owed under current law. There is no bypas…
Sources: Congress.gov: HR 8029 summary
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