The 43-day partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security has entered its sixth week as Congress left for spring recess without resolving the funding stalemate, while President Trump moved to compensate TSA officers through an executive memorandum.
Trump on Friday issued a presidential memorandum directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, to send funds "that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations" to pay TSA employees with the pay and benefits "that would have accrued" if the shutdown hadn't taken place.
The executive action addresses an agency that has seen approximately 500 employees quit since the shutdown began. Call-outs and resignations have caused security checkpoints to shut down at airports across the country, resulting in long lines, flight delays and cancellations.
The memo would only compensate TSA workers. Other agencies within DHS, including FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard, have gone without funding since mid-February.
What the Right Is Saying
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) denounced the Senate bill as a "gambit" and a "joke," saying it would fund most of DHS while excluding ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol.
"I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill," Johnson said at a press conference Friday, placing blame on Senate Democrats while acknowledging that Thune was not "the engineer of this."
House Freedom Caucus members pressured Republican colleagues to reject the Senate measure, which they viewed as insufficiently supportive of immigration enforcement.
The House passed a GOP continuing resolution to fully fund DHS through May 22 on a 213-203 vote. Republican leaders said the bill could pass the Senate with unanimous consent, though that outcome is considered unlikely given Democratic opposition.
What the Left Is Saying
Senate Democrats blocked an initial bill to keep DHS running, demanding sweeping reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to the agency's tactics and its execution of Trump's deportation agenda. Those calls intensified after two U.S. citizens were killed during federal immigration operations in Minneapolis in January.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the House-passed continuing resolution "that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate."
Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the Democratic whip, accused House Republicans of sending a bill to an empty upper chamber as a strategy to extend the shutdown. "House Republicans know this is a continuation of the shutdown because the Senate is gone," Clark said.
Three centrist Democrats — Reps. Don Davis (N.C.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Henry Cuellar (Texas) — voted for the House GOP continuing resolution, though party leadership opposed the measure.
What the Numbers Show
The DHS funding lapse has reached 43 days, making it one of the longest federal agency funding gaps in recent memory.
Approximately 500 TSA employees have resigned since the shutdown began, contributing to checkpoint closures and operational disruptions at airports nationwide.
The House vote on the GOP continuing resolution was 213-203, with three Democrats joining 210 Republicans in support.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune can summon senators back from spring recess to vote on the House measure, though political observers consider this unlikely.
The Bottom Line
The partial DHS shutdown continues with no immediate resolution in sight as Congress enters a two-week spring recess. Trump's memorandum addresses compensation for TSA workers but does not resolve the underlying funding dispute.
The core conflict remains unchanged: Democrats demand operational reforms at ICE and Border Patrol as a condition for full DHS funding, while Republicans push for unconditional reauthorization of all immigration enforcement agencies. The House's fourth funding attempt is not expected to survive Senate consideration.
Travelers and aviation industry stakeholders continue to bear the consequences, with airport delays likely to persist as staffing shortages compound. The pattern of legislative action only during crisis points — when public outrage peaks over travel disruptions — has repeated throughout this funding lapse.