The Senate unanimously approved a partial funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security early Friday, a compromise that would restore paychecks for TSA agents and fund most of the department’s operations — but deliberately excludes Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, the agencies at the center of the prolonged budget standoff.
The bill now heads to the House, where its path forward is murky. Speaker Mike Johnson indicated he needed to consult with Republican colleagues before determining how to proceed, and conservatives have been vocal about their unwillingness to accept any deal that leaves ICE without funding. Passage in the House will almost certainly require bipartisan support.
President Trump separately announced he would sign an executive order to immediately pay TSA agents using funds from last year’s tax legislation, framing the move as a way to quickly end what he described as chaos at the nation’s airports. If the congressional package clears the House and is signed into law, that executive action may become unnecessary.
The deal represents a significant concession for Democrats, who had spent weeks pressing for new restrictions on immigration enforcement — including requirements that federal agents wear visible identification, remove face coverings during operations and avoid conducting raids near schools, churches and other sensitive locations. None of those guardrails made it into the final package. ICE’s operations have continued largely uninterrupted throughout the shutdown, thanks in large part to the $75 billion in supplemental DHS funding included in Trump’s 2025 tax law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged that further budget battles lie ahead, while Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed his party would keep fighting to impose oversight on what he characterized as an unchecked immigration enforcement operation.
The human cost of the 42-day impasse has been mounting. Callout rates among TSA workers have exceeded 40 percent at multiple airports, nearly 500 officers have resigned outright since the shutdown began, and on a single day this week more than 3,100 TSA employees failed to report for their scheduled shifts. The resulting security checkpoint backups have stranded travelers across the country, with some airports warning of potential closures if the situation continued.
