Washington (United States) (AFP) – US House Republicans on Friday effectively shot down a Senate effort to end a weeks-long budget standoff that has forced thousands of airport security staff to work without pay, likely extending the lapse in federal funding. The speaker of the House, Republican Mike Johnson, blasted the Senate bill as a “joke” and said his side would introduce competing legislation that would fully fund Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff as well as immigration agents and Border Patrol personnel.
The White House meanwhile said President Donald Trump on Friday signed a memorandum ordering his administration to resolve the “unprecedented emergency situation” and find the necessary available funds to pay TSA salaries. However, it remained unclear where that money would come from. A partial government shutdown has left TSA staff — who screen passengers, baggage, and cargo — working without pay since mid-February. The stalemate has led to long delays at several airports, where authorities have warned travelers to arrive hours earlier than usual because of long security lines.
The funding dispute centered on demands by opposition Democrats for reforms of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency facing nationwide criticism of its aggressive tactics against immigrants and for the killings of two US citizens this year. Senators voted before dawn Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the TSA’s parent agency, except ICE and US Border Patrol, for 2026. The bill would provide funding for TSA, the US Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other operations, but it did not include Democrats’ proposed reforms. The lack of ICE or Border Patrol funding would not bar them from conducting their operations because the Republican-controlled Congress directed substantial extra funding to those agencies in 2025.
Johnson said Republicans would not go along with the Senate’s effort. “This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Johnson told reporters, complaining that the Senate bill — which passed by voice vote, meaning no senator objected — left US borders insecure. “We’re not going to risk not funding the agencies that keep the American people safe.” Instead, Johnson said his side will introduce a bill to extend current funding levels for all of DHS, including ICE and US Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol, for eight weeks, until May 22. “I spoke to the president a few moments ago. He understands exactly what we’re doing and why, and he supports it,” Johnson said.
Trump previously said he would not sign a funding deal unless Congress also passes a contentious bill to overhaul how citizens register to vote in US elections. In his remarks Friday to reporters, Johnson made no mention of that effort. Trump’s memorandum did not make clear precisely where his administration would come up with funding for TSA staff during the impasse. Republicans hold a majority in both congressional chambers, but due to Senate rules, a certain number of Democratic votes would be required to pass budget bills. Even if a new bill did clear the House, the Senate has adjourned for two full weeks, potentially meaning more dragged-out pain for air travelers and TSA workers.
Johnson said senators could return to Capitol Hill and sign off, but Senate Democratic leadership said no way. A funding measure “that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions — but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms.” The political fight has deeply strained TSA services. Nearly 500 transportation security officers have quit, according to the White House, and unscheduled absences have surged since the partial shutdown began.
© 2024 AFP
