General Discussion

Trump Takes Executive Action to Pay TSA Workers as Funding Stalls in Congress

House lawmakers reject Senate plan to fund all of Homeland Security except for ICE and Border Patrol

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WASHINGTON—President Trump directed federal officials to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, bypassing a gridlocked Congress after the latest proposal to fund the broader Department of Homeland Security ran aground Friday. The move, which Trump had previewed a day earlier, came as House Republican leaders rejected a Senate-passed bill that would fund most of DHS, including the TSA. A long-running standoff in Congress over immigration enforcement and funding has led to missed paychecks for airport security workers and long lines for travelers. The executive action instructs the Homeland Security secretary and the White House budget director to use federal funds that have a “reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations” to pay TSA workers.

The memo, signed by Trump on Friday afternoon, described the situation at the country’s airports as an “unprecedented emergency.” TSA officers should begin getting paychecks as early as Monday, the DHS said. Trump, who has expressed skepticism about any bipartisan deal in the Senate, acted as progress in Congress stalled. Shortly after 2 a.m. Friday, the GOP-led Senate agreed in a voice vote to approve legislation to fund all of DHS through the end of the fiscal year—except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. The measure would provide funding for an assortment of programs, including the TSA, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.


But the legislation quickly ran into objections in the House over the lack of immigration-enforcement funding. Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) told GOP colleagues that the House wouldn’t vote on the Senate bill and instead look to pass a measure that would fund all of DHS for eight weeks and provide back pay for government workers. “To make clear, the Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement,” Johnson said at a press conference Friday afternoon. He called the bill a ”joke” and blamed Democrats, saying they “forced this upon the Senate.”

Johnson said he had spoken to Trump and the president “understands exactly what we’re doing.” He also said Trump’s executive action would make sure TSA agents are paid while negotiations in Congress continue. The move by House Republicans to pass a different bill could leave Congress in a deadlock stretching into next month. Senators have already left town for a two-week recess, and House lawmakers were set to join them. Any bill passed by one chamber would need to be passed by the other before heading to Trump’s desk. Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but advancing legislation typically requires 60 votes in the chamber.

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