The US Senate passed legislation early Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, forging a path to end a lengthy partial government shutdown that snarled airport security and threatened to ripple through an economy already roiled by the Iran war.
The bill, which must still pass the House and be signed by President Donald Trump, marks an abrupt reversal for Republicans, who had blocked similar proposals backed by Democrats to partially fund the department for weeks. The legislation passed the Senate by voice vote.
Democrats had previously offered to fund most of DHS with the exception of the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying they wanted to pair funding those agencies with more restrictions on immigration enforcement.
But 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.
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.
DHS has lacked regular appropriated funding since Feb. 14, 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.
Trump on Thursday took some of the pressure off lawmakers when he said 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.
Democrats are poised to walk away from the DHS shutdown debate without assorted reforms to immigration enforcement polices they had sought, while Republicans now face a high-stakes fight to fund their immigration agenda on their own via a subsequent partisan budget bill with little margin for error.
However, Democrats 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.
“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.
Under the deal, Republicans agreed to a Democratic offer to finance most of the department’s operations with the exception of ICE and Border Patrol. 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.
“Their refusal to fund ICE and Border Patrol leaves our borders and our country less secure and sets a precedent that they may one day come to regret,” said Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.
Republicans plan to try and add that money through another budget process that would allow them to pass the bill with only GOP votes, but it’s not clear if such a measure can make it through their narrow majorities in both the House and Senate as lawmakers prepare for elections this November.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the follow-up budget bill won’t be easy and isn’t guaranteed to succeed, adding that he expects Republicans will “keep it focused and fairly narrow.”
Democrats’ Demands
Democrats had sought enhanced training for ICE officers, expanded use of body cameras, and the use of badges clearly identifying officers by name. But Republicans were not willing to accede to Democratic demands to bar officers from wearing masks in most situations, or require judicial warrants to enter private homes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to look for opportunities to pursue those enforcement guardrails.
GOP lawmakers argued that forgoing masks could put officers in jeopardy and that paperwork, including warrants, would slow the administration’s deportation goals. Democrats said police officers, judges and other law enforcement officials face similar dangers and don’t typically wear masks, and that warrants are required by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
The partial shutdown has had significantly less overall impact than last year’s record-setting funding lapse because the two parties agreed to pay for the bulk of government, including the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services, in January. Nonetheless, pressure on lawmakers has been escalating as travelers suffer through hours-long delays at major US airports because of the budget impasse.
Trump’s Wishes
Republicans sidestepped Trump’s demand earlier this week that his party refuse any funding compromise unless the Senate passes a partisan voter identification bill, a top priority for the president with the approach of the midterm elections in November.
That legislation, the SAVE America Act, would require voters to establish proof of citizenship and show photo identification before casting a ballot, and would authorize mass purges of voter rolls without requiring notification to affected voters.
The president had urged Republican lawmakers to link funds to reopen DHS to the voter ID legislation and remain in Washington through next week’s Easter holiday if needed — imploring them to “make this one for Jesus.”
Thune had called the president’s strategy “not realistic” amid solid opposition from Democrats who say the legislation amounts to voter suppression. However, he said the Senate will continue to debate the bill.
Republicans had earlier appealed to Democrats to drop their blockade of DHS funding after the war in Iran began, sparking an increased threat of terrorist attacks. Democrats repeatedly offered to pay parts of the department that are not in dispute, including the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and TSA, but Republicans refused.
Amid the dispute, the Senate on Monday confirmed Markwayne Mullin, a Senate Republican from Oklahoma and strong defender of Trump’s deportation program, as the new Homeland Security secretary to replace Noem.
TOP PHOTO: A federal law enforcement officer and an Enforcement and Removal Operations agent at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, on March 26.
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