A standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security deepened on Friday after House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal and instead passed their own short-term funding bill, prolonging a partial shutdown that has already disrupted airports nationwide and left thousands of federal workers unpaid. The House then adjourned for a two-week recess, leaving no immediate path to resolve the impasse. Reuters and AP reported that the shutdown began on February 14 and has stretched past six weeks, with Transportation Security Administration staffing shortages causing long security lines at major airports.
In a 213-203 vote Friday night, Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans approved an eight-week measure that would fully fund DHS, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations that were left out of the Senate’s proposal. The Senate measure, passed earlier with bipartisan support, would have restored funding for most of the department, including TSA, but excluded key immigration enforcement functions. Johnson dismissed that plan as unacceptable and accused Democrats of forcing Republicans to choose between airport security and border enforcement.
The House move amounted to a direct rebuke not only of Senate Democrats but also of Senate Republicans, whose leaders had negotiated the earlier compromise. Johnson said the House could not support any bill that left “two of the most important agencies in government” without funding, while publicly downplaying any rupture with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Still, the episode exposed a clear rift between the two Republican-led chambers over how to end the shutdown and what concessions, if any, should be made on immigration policy.
With Congress deadlocked, President Donald Trump stepped in on Friday with an executive order directing Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget to use available funds tied to TSA operations to immediately begin paying airport screeners. DHS said TSA employees could begin receiving pay as soon as Monday, though the legal and financial mechanics of the order remain unclear. The move is aimed at relieving the most visible pressure point of the shutdown as spring break travel intensifies.
The shutdown has hit TSA particularly hard. Reuters said roughly 50,000 airport security workers have gone without pay, with absenteeism climbing to nearly 12% and hundreds of officers quitting. At some airports, wait times have stretched beyond four hours, while smaller airports have faced the risk of temporary closure because of staffing shortfalls.
For now, neither side appears ready to yield. House Democrats say the Senate bill remains the only bipartisan option with the votes to pass quickly, while House Republicans insist that any agreement must include full funding for ICE and border enforcement. With both chambers out of town and the Senate unlikely to accept the House bill in its current form, the shutdown appears set to continue unless there is a broader political breakthrough involving at least some Democrats.
