The U.S. Senate passed legislation early Friday to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, opening the way to end a long partial government shutdown that has disrupted airport security and threatened an economy already reeling from the war with Iran.
The bill still must pass the House and be signed by President Donald Trump, marking a sudden reversal for Republicans who for weeks have blocked similar Democratic-backed proposals to partially fund the department. The bill passed the Senate on a voice vote.
Democrats have previously proposed funding most of the Department of Homeland Security except the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying they want to fund those agencies while imposing more restrictions on immigration enforcement.
But long lines and long wait times at airport security checkpoints across the country have left Transportation Security Administration agents unpaid, calling in sick or resigning entirely, putting pressure on lawmakers to find a faster way to resolve the impasse.
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Affected airports include Atlanta, Houston and New York. Long queues formed at the terminal, at baggage claim and in some cases even outside as frustrated passengers resented wait times and the possibility of missing their flights.
The Department of Homeland Security has been without regular funding since Feb. 14, leaving Transportation Security Administration personnel and other federal workers and contractors without pay multiple times during the standoff. More than 480 TSA workers resigned during the funding outage.
Trump said Thursday he would sign an order to pay Transportation Security Administration officials to ease airport disruptions and take money from the 2025 tax and spending bill to pay those salaries, relieving some pressure on lawmakers. The unusual move marginalizes Congress, which has broad latitude over the federal budget and agency spending.
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Democrats are poised to abandon the Department of Homeland Security shutdown debate without enacting the kinds of reforms they seek to immigration enforcement policies, while Republicans now face a high-stakes fight to fund their immigration agenda through subsequent partisan budget bills with little room for error.
Democrats scored some victories, however: Trump ultimately ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after a federal immigration surge in Minneapolis was stemmed after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens there.
“Republicans have finally relented, and we are now on track to fund the areas we agree on and pay TSA workers, get our airports back up and running, and fund critical disaster relief and cybersecurity efforts,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement.
Under the agreement, Republicans agreed to a Democratic proposal to fund most of the department’s operations, with the exception of ICE and Border Patrol. ICE has received funding for years as part of last year’s Trump tax and spending bill, but Republicans also want billions more in regular funding.
“By refusing to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, they are making our border and our country less secure and setting a precedent they may one day regret,” said Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Republicans plan to try to increase the funding through another budget process so that they can pass the bill with only Republican votes, but it is unclear whether such a measure can pass with narrow majorities in the House and Senate as lawmakers prepare for this November’s elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said a follow-up budget bill would not be easy and success was not guaranteed, adding that he expected Republicans to “keep it focused and fairly narrow.”
Democratic Party demands
Democrats seek to increase training for ICE officers, expand the use of body cameras and use badges that clearly identify officers by name. But Republicans are unwilling to accede to Democratic demands to ban police from wearing masks in most situations or to require a judicial warrant to enter private homes. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to pursue opportunities to pursue these enforcement guardrails.
Republican lawmakers argued that abandoning masks could put police at risk and that paperwork, including search warrants, would slow down the administration’s deportation goals. Democrats say police officers, judges and other law enforcement officials face similar dangers because they often don’t wear masks and the Fourth Amendment requires search warrants.
The overall impact of the partial shutdown will be much smaller than last year’s record funding shortfall, as the two parties agreed in January to cover most government costs, including the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services. Still, pressure is mounting on lawmakers as travelers at major U.S. airports suffer hours-long delays amid a budget impasse.
Trump’s wishes
Earlier this week, Republicans sidestepped Trump’s demand to reject any funding compromise unless the Senate passes a partisan voter ID bill, a top priority for the president as November’s midterm elections approach.
The legislation, known as the Save America Act, would require voters to provide proof of citizenship and show photo ID before voting and would authorize mass purges of voter rolls without notifying affected voters.
The president has urged Republican lawmakers to tie reopening funding for the Department of Homeland Security to voter ID legislation and stay in Washington until next week’s Easter holiday if necessary – imploring them to “do it for Jesus.”
Thune called the president’s strategy “unrealistic,” and Democrats strongly opposed it, saying the legislation amounted to voter suppression. However, he said the Senate would continue to debate the bill.
Republicans had earlier called on Democrats to abandon their blockade on Department of Homeland Security funding as the threat of terrorist attacks intensified following the outbreak of the Iran war. Democrats have repeatedly offered to pay for non-controversial agencies such as the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Transportation Security Administration, but Republicans have rejected it.
Amid the controversy, the Senate on Monday confirmed Markwayne Mullin, a Senate Republican from Oklahoma and a staunch defender of Trump’s deportation plans, as the new Homeland Security secretary to replace Noem.
