Senate funds DHS after Trump’s TSA pay promise
What happened
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would sign an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “immediately pay our TSA Agents” in order to “quickly stop” the “Chaos at the Airports.” After Trump’s announcement on social media, the Senate passed a bill early Friday morning to fund the TSA and all other DHS agencies except those responsible for immigration enforcement. Pressure had been building for action as air travelers continually face long lines at some airports amid TSA callouts and resignations.
Who said what
Trump did not say how he would pay the 50,000 TSA agents on the verge of missing their second full paycheck since DHS funding expired Feb. 14. But CNN, citing two people familiar with the plans, said the president would use “funding from the sweeping legislation he signed last year known as the ’One Big, Beautiful Bill.’”
Trump “appeared eager to claim credit” for steering some of his DHS “slush fund” to the TSA, The New York Times said, but “no executive order, emergency or otherwise, would be required to access those funds,” and “it was not clear why he had waited more than five weeks” to pay the agents. “My question is, if he can do it, why didn’t he do it before?” Max Stier, CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, said to CNN.
Republicans had “lobbied Trump” in recent days to “take executive action to pay TSA agents,” The Wall Street Journal said, citing a senior administration official. But the president was “initially opposed to the idea, believing Democrats were getting the blame for chaos at airports.” Democrats had repeatedly pushed to fund just the TSA as negotiations over ICE policies continued. The bill passed Friday by unanimous consent would fund all DHS agencies except ICE and Border Patrol, and did not include any of the reforms sought by Democrats.
What next?
The DHS bill “next goes to the House,” which is “expected to consider it” Friday before Congress leaves for a two-week Easter break, The Associated Press said. Republicans are “now expected to try to pass the immigration-enforcement funding through a process called budget reconciliation,” the Journal said. But “any reconciliation bill,” Axios said, “faces a perilous path in both chambers,” especially if it includes “$200 billion for the Pentagon tied to Iran.”