US senators have voted in favor of a bill to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is the parent agency of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said in a statement that it has withheld funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and some Customs and Border Protection at the heart of the budget impasse.
The deal would fund DHS components such as the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, the statement said.
The deal, which was unanimously approved by the Senate without prior appointment, goes on to the House, which is scheduled to consider it on Friday. If the bill passes the House, it will be signed by President Donald Trump.
Why was the bill passed?
Democrats have previously offered to defund most of DHS, except for Border Patrol and ICE, saying they want to tie funding to those agencies with more restrictions on immigration enforcement.
DHS has lacked regular appropriations since Feb. 14, leading TSA employees and other federal workers and contractors to miss more paychecks during the standoff. More than 480 TSA workers left during the funding expiration.
Meanwhile, lengthy lines and historically long waits at airport security checkpoints across the country as unpaid Transportation Security Administration agents called in sick or quit altogether put pressure on lawmakers to find a faster way to resolve the impasse, Bloomberg reported.
Airports affected included Atlanta, Houston and New York. Lines wound through terminals, baggage claim and, in some cases, even outside as frustrated passengers grappled with the wait and the potential for missed flights.
Trump enters
According to the report, Trump took some of the pressure off lawmakers when he said Thursday he would sign an order to pay TSA officers in an effort to ease airport disruptions by siphoning funds from his 2025 tax and spending bill to cover those salaries.
The unusual move was blocked by Congress, which has wide discretion over the federal budget and agency spending.
Democrats were prepared to walk away from the debate over ending DHS without the various reforms to immigration enforcement policies they sought.
But they have had some victories: a federal immigration surge in Minneapolis was rolled back after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, and Trump eventually fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Bloomberg said.
“Republicans finally backed down, and now we’re on track to fund the areas we agree on and keep TSA agents paid, get our airports up and running again, and fund critical disaster relief and cybersecurity,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said in a statement.
what’s the deal
The bill, approved by the Senate on Friday, would provide funding for the TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others.
As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to a Democratic offer to fund most of the department’s operations except for ICE and the Border Patrol.
ICE already received multi-year funding last year as part of Trump’s tax-and-spend package, but Republicans also wanted to add billions in regular funding.
The funding package does not impose any new restrictions on immigration enforcement, which has remained largely unaffected by the shutdown.
The big GOP tax cut bill that Trump signed into law last year brought billions in additional funding to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring that immigration officials are still being paid despite the delay.
