House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced Wednesday a two-track plan to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown after the partial shutdown that began on February 14 became the longest in U.S. history at 47 days.

The Republican leaders’ joint statement represents a reversal for Johnson, who last week rejected a similar Senate approach that would have funded most DHS agencies except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol. “In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process,” the leaders said.

Under the plan, the first track returns to the Senate plan to fund most of the department, with the exception of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol , while Republicans would try later to fund those agencies through party-line spending legislation .

The shutdown has created mounting chaos at airports nationwide as roughly 61,000 TSA employees have been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed February 14 . The employees have missed more than $1 billion in pay, making it difficult for many to afford food, gas, housing, child care and other essentials . More than 500 TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began and thousands more have missed shifts .

The crisis reached a tipping point last week when TSA lines exceeded several hours at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with lines wrapping around baggage claim and extending outside of the terminal . Callout rates have spiked nationwide, with the highest single-day airport callout rate reaching 55% at Houston Hobby International Airport (HOU) on March 14, 2026 .

President Donald Trump intervened Friday with an executive order to resume TSA pay, and most Transportation Security Administration officers received a paycheck Monday covering four weeks of back wages that were held up by the funding lapse at the Homeland Security Department . DHS plans to use funding from the “big, beautiful bill” that Trump signed into law last summer .

The funding standoff centers on Democratic demands for changes to immigration enforcement practices. Democrats have refused to pass funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without reforms to their practices following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis in January.

“For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday. “Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered.”

Trump blessed the revived plan, posting on social media that “We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” with legislation on his desk by June 1.

The shutdown has impacted multiple agencies beyond TSA. FEMA has more than 4,000 agency staffers not receiving wages—and that, for many of them, this is their third shutdown in less than a year . CISA has roughly 60% of agency staffers furloughed or “otherwise unable to work” while Coast Guard civilian employees have “already missed several paychecks, leaving them without resources to support their family” .

The timing remains uncertain for legislative action. It is uncertain whether Johnson could find enough support from the House to recall lawmakers back to Washington before their spring recess ends in mid-April . Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent .

The narrow budget package being prepared for later this year is expected to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the remainder of Trump’s term, as a way to try to ensure those agencies are no longer at risk from a funding lapse due to Democrats objecting to the president’s immigration enforcement agenda .

The resolution comes as the shutdown has strained the nation’s transportation infrastructure during peak spring travel season and raised concerns about national security capabilities across multiple fronts, from cybersecurity to disaster response.