In a remarkable 24 hours in Washington, House Republicans snubbed a bipartisan funding deal cut by their own Senate GOP counterparts and instead approved an entirely different plan — prolonging the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. In a 213-203 vote, Speaker Mike Johnson and his House Republicans voted Friday night to effectively jam the Senate with their plan, fully funding DHS for eight weeks through May 22.
On March 27, the Senate passed a Homeland Security funding bill by voice vote. The legislation would provide funding for most of Homeland Security, except Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
The three Democrats who voted for the measure were all moderates from competitive districts: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Don Davis of North Carolina.
The Department of Homeland Security’s funding lapsed on February 14, and the department has been shut down since that time.
Now, there’s no end in sight for the 42-day shutdown that has hobbled airports across the country with TSA shortages.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that TSA has “immediately” begun the process of paying workers in response to Mr. Trump’s directive and employees will soon begin receiving their paychecks. “TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30,” the department said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the House GOP’s offer is “dead on arrival” in the upper chamber.
Both chambers of Congress are now out on a two-week recess. The standoff reflects deeper Republican divisions over immigration enforcement funding, with House conservatives demanding full ICE funding while Senate Republicans accepted a more limited deal to reopen most DHS operations.