DHS shutdown set to stretch on with Congress on 2-week break

Washington — The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, now the longest in history at 45 days, is set to stretch on after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed solution to the standoff late last week. 

TSA employees began receiving partial back pay as the standstill in Washington showed no signs of ending. President Trump directed the TSA workers to be paid late last week, and DHS officials said the deposits began hitting accounts Monday and are expected into the coming days. 

The situation at airports became dire in recent weeks, with more than 500 TSA agents quitting their jobs as the shutdown wore on. Unlike the last funding lapse, Congress was able to fund the bulk of the government in recent months. But DHS has been the exception, with Democrats demanding reforms to immigration agencies since two deadly shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis. 

After the Senate reached a bipartisan solution to fund the bulk of the department late last week, it was GOP infighting that dashed the path forward.

Senate Democrats and the White House had been negotiating reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent weeks. But as a breakthrough remained out of reach, the Senate changed course and began pursuing a plan that left out funding for ICE, a reflection of the intense strain of the shutdown on other DHS agencies, like the TSA. After Mr. Trump announced he would sign the order to pay TSA officers, the Senate unanimously approved funding for DHS early Friday morning. The measure left out funds for ICE and some of Customs and Border Protection. 

House Republicans criticized the Senate's strategy. Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, called it a "joke," and moved forward with an alternate measure to fund the entirety of DHS on a temporary basis. Late Friday, House Republicans approved the 60-day continuing resolution with support from just three Democrats.

Neither chamber is set to return to Washington until the week of April 13. And without agreement between the House and Senate, DHS will remain shut down.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Republicans that he's working with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to determine if there's room for agreement on DHS funding. But a spokesperson for Schumer said the New York Democrat "made clear that Democrats would not accept anything less than what was passed unanimously by the Senate."

With 53 Republicans in the Senate, support from Democrats is necessary to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation. 

Calls for lawmakers to cut their recess short could grow in the coming days. GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah urged Senate leaders to bring Congress back into session on Sunday, writing on X that "Waiting for a deal to materialize with Chuck Schumer applies no pressure on Senate Democrats to fund DHS."

"Interrupting their recess and forcing them to debate DHS funding on the Senate floor *would* apply pressure," Lee added. "We can't reward unprecedented obstruction with two-week recesses."

Lee also pointed to the president's ability to convene one or both houses of Congress "on extraordinary Occasions." Whether the president would take action to prompt Congress' early return remains to be seen. 

White House border czar Tom Homan said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday that he hopes the president will compel lawmakers to return. "They're on vacation right now while tens of thousands of DHS employees aren't being paid," he said.

"The president found a way to pay TSA workers so we can get the American public through those lines," Homan added. "So we just need to get the department funded."

Homan said ICE agents, who have been assisting TSA agents at airports, will remain in place until they return to regular operations. 

"ICE is there to help our brothers and sisters in TSA," Homan said. "We'll be there as long as they need us, until they get back to normal operations and feel like those airports are secure."

Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that "the ICE workers have been amazing." He said the administration will pay TSA for "as long as we have to."