The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security will reach the one-month mark tomorrow. Transportation Security Administration agents are now missing their first full paychecks of this shutdown, and the agency said this week that more than 300 of its agents have quit over the past month, but the White House and congressional Democrats are nowhere near a deal to end the funding lapse.
Over the past four weeks, the Senate has repeatedly failed to advance funding for all or parts of DHS, as Democrats and Republicans continued to block proposals from the other party.
Democrats continue to demand reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol but have offered to fund other agencies within DHS. They say Republicans have blocked those measures, which could ease the pain of the shutdown, because they don’t want to reform ICE.
“Right now, we could be paying TSA agents, funding FEMA before the next disaster hits, protecting our cyber defenses, and making sure the Coast Guard gets paid. But Republicans said no,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. “Democrats have tried—six separate times—to pass simple bills to keep these critical parts of DHS running while negotiations continue. Six times Republicans came to the floor and blocked them. TSA officers shouldn’t miss paychecks, disaster relief shouldn’t be left hanging, and Americans’ safety shouldn’t be collateral damage in a political standoff Republicans created.”
Republicans say Democrats are playing politics and withholding funds for some vital national security functions at a time when the country faces a heightened threat environment as well as increased TSA staffing shortages that are causing airport delays.
“Democrats just tried to, once again, defund law enforcement,” Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said this week after blocking a Democratic plan to fund agencies within DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the office of the secretary. “We’re not going back to Biden’s failed border policies and the era of ‘Defund the Police.’”
What’s next: The shutdown will drag on. The Senate will have some other items on its agenda for next week, including a confirmation hearing for Sen. Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security Secretary and an attempt by Republicans to bring up the “Save America Act,” which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo IDs at polling locations. President Trump also wants the bill to include other controversial provisions, including tight restrictions that would largely eliminate mail-in voting and prohibitions against transgender women playing in women’s sports and some transgender procedures for minors.
The bottom line: Each side is betting it has some leverage. Democrats feel the American public is on their side regarding the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. The White House reportedly expects that Democrats will face more pressure to end the shutdown as airport problems mount and we get further away from the January shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. TSA agents are caught in the middle.