TSA lines at airports add pressure on lawmakers to end DHS shutdown |
TSA lines at airports add pressure on lawmakers to end DHS shutdown
Growing security lines at airports around the country are putting pressure on both White House and Senate Democratic negotiators to reach a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which saw its funding lapse nearly a month ago.
Senate sources familiar with the negotiation say there’s been some progress behind the scenes, though not as much as both sides would have hoped as lawmakers in both parties hear complaints from constituents about chaos at airports.
A person familiar with negotiations said that leaders in both parties would like to get a deal by the Easter recess, which is scheduled to begin March 28.
“There wasn’t any sign of movement a week or so ago. There are a few roots this week and I’m hopeful we can get some movement next week,” said the source, who cited long waits at airport security lines as a major concern among lawmakers.
Rank-and-file Democrats acknowledge they’re feeling pressure over the impact the shutdown has had on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers and on the traveling public.
“People are making donations to people at the airport to help them get through while they’re not being paid. There’s a great deal of concern,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).
Travelers are facing security lines that are nearly three hours long in some places, such as Houston’s William Hobby Airport.
Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (Wyo.) pointed out on the Senate floor that absences at TSA have doubled since the shutdown began last month, and that more than 300 TSA agents have already left the agency entirely.
Several Democrats on Thursday declined to comment on how to resolve the long wait times, including Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), who rushed into a lunch meeting before the last vote of the week.
There are other pressure points on the DHS fight, including the growing risk of terrorist attacks during the military conflict with Iran. On Thursday alone, there was a deadly shooting at Old Dominion University in Virginia, while a car with explosives drove into a synagogue in a Detroit suburb.
Senate security officials set up police barricades on 2nd Street NE outside the Hart Senate Office Building as well as crowd control barriers around the Capitol perimeter on Thursday.
The heightened precautions on Capitol Hill come as two young men were charged in New York over the weekend for attempting to explode two homemade bombs at a “Stop the Islamic Takeover” protest outside Gracie Mansion, the residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Even so, Democrats say there’s more pressure on President Trump to agree to their demands to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as Republicans control the White House and Congress.
Democrats believe that voters are more likely to blame Republicans for the impasse because they’re “in charge” in Washington.
“The Democrats are united that we are not going to fund ICE and Customs and Border Patrol without some meaningful improvement in how they operate,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss the political calculus of the negotiations.
The Democrat said Republicans are “screwed” and “look increasingly bad if they continue to fund the rest of” the Homeland Security Department when Democrats have repeatedly expressed support for funding TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard.
“The more that people’s travel plans become disrupted, the more they’re going to pay attention. I have seen polling that says when people get mad [about the shutdown], they’re going to blame them because they’re in charge,” the senator said of polling on which party will get more of the blame as the shutdown drags on.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a prominent progressive voice on Capitol Hill, said he’s concerned that approximately 260,000 federal workers are missing paychecks during the shutdown, but he declared that giving more money to ICE is a nonstarter.
“I’m concerned about a lot of things, that’s one of them. But the feeling is we should be dealing with FEMA but it’s absolutely imperative that we reform ICE,” he said.
Democrats privately acknowledge the party that blocks government funding usually gets the blame for a shutdown, but they think the situation is different this time because the actions of immigration officials who shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis were so “egregious.”
“Everybody agrees on TSA, everybody agrees on Coast Guard, everyone agrees on FEMA, so why not fund them,” said a second Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on internal Senate discussion.
The senator noted that ICE and CBP are “sitting on a pile of cash” because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed into law last year provided $170 billion for immigration enforcement.
“It’s not like there’s risk they can’t fund ICE activities,” the lawmaker added. “I’m not getting a bunch of phone calls, ‘You need to give ICE more money,’ given the behavior and the poor training and all the stuff we’ve seen.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), one of the lead negotiators, said Democrats have been talking to the White House despite a claim by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on the Senate floor that Democrats have largely ignored a proposal offered by the Trump administration two weeks ago.
“We’ve been talking and of course we’ll be responding,” she said of the proposal the White House submitted to Democrats 14 days ago.
The stalemate over funding DHS, which saw its funding lapse on Feb. 14, appeared intractable during the rancorous debate on the Senate floor Thursday.
Democrats voted largely along party lines to block a House-passed bill funding the department through September.
Murray said Thursday’s vote against reopening the Homeland Security Department was meant to send a message to the White House that Democrats are willing to keep it shut down for as long as it takes to get major concessions on immigration enforcement.
“The White House now takes us seriously, and we’ll be working over the weekend to see if we can get some movement,” she said.
Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote to advance the House-passed funding measure.
The sprawling department includes ICE and CBP as well as TSA, FEMA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Coast Guard.
Democrats on Thursday proposed a series of unanimous-consent requests to fund TSA, FEMA, CISA and the Coast Guard individually.
Republicans objected to all of those requests.
“We’re not going to let the Democratic Party defund ICE and defund the Border Patrol at a time we’re under serious threat,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, declared Thursday.
“We’re not going to let them do this. This is irresponsible, the entire department needs to be funded,” he added.
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