DHS Shutdown Hits Record as TSA Workers Get First Paychecks in Weeks

Passengers wait in a TSA security line in Baltimore on March 29, 2026
Reuters
By Michael Rainey

Good evening. Airport security workers started receiving paychecks today, but the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security continues.

Here's your Monday update.

DHS Shutdown Hits Record, Could Last for Weeks Longer

The Department of Homeland Security has now been operating without funding for 45 days, the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, and it looks like that number is only going higher.

The Senate met in a pro forma session on Monday, with all but a handful of lawmakers out of town on a two-week spring break. As expected, no effort was made to pass a bill known as a continuing resolution, passed by House Republicans late Friday, that would temporarily fund DHS for eight weeks. Democrats have made it clear that they have no plans to support the bill when the Senate returns in full force in mid-April.

On Friday, just before leaving for the break, the House rejected a bill passed by unanimous consent in the Senate that would fund DHS, except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the agencies at the center of a partisan battle over the Trump administration's aggressive and at times deadly crackdown on undocumented migrants. House Republicans hammered the Senate bill, saying they would never pass legislation that fails to fund immigration enforcement.

That leaves Congress with two bills that would end the shutdown, but the Senate rejects the House version and the House rejects the Senate version. With lawmakers currently scattered all around the country, there's no sign of a compromise emerging anytime soon.

The reconciliation option: Senate Republicans are working on a reconciliation package that would fund DHS for three years, covering the rest of President Trump's time in office, though the timeline for the bill is unclear. The legislation, which could pass with just Republican backing, is intended to deny Democrats the ability to demand reforms at ICE and CBP in exchange for funding.

"We're working on reconciliation now. We're taking this off the table," Sen. John Hoeven, a senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said Monday. "That's enough of this with the Democrats. We're going to fund DHS for the next three years."

Hoeven said Republicans could include other funding, as well, possibly including money for the Iran war and for farmers. "We'll see what the numbers are, the pay-fors are, all those kind of things, but we don't want to be in this situation again where the Dems are blocking ICE and CBP and so it may be a narrower rifle shot there," he said. "So let's start with DHS, and then we'll see."

TSA paychecks start flowing: Thousands of DHS employees have missed paychecks due to the shutdown, resulting in massive delays at U.S. airports as Transportation Security Administration workers called out or quit. President Trump last week ordered DHS to pay TSA's nearly 50,000 employees using departmental funds, and some employees reported that they had been paid, at least partially, as of Monday.

It's not clear if the paychecks will translate immediately into a return to normal conditions at the airports, but there were multiple reports Monday that security lines had subsided at some of the hardest hit facilities, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston.

Still, the funding stalemate isn't over, and some analysts are warning that disruptions will remain a threat until Congress fixes the problem.

Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA officer, told the Associated Press that TSA staffing levels may not return to normal until it's clear that workers are back on their regular pay schedules. "If it's only for a pay period, that's not enough to bring them back," he said. "It has to be an extended pay for them to come back or want to stay there."

Republicans Mull Healthcare Cuts to Pay for Iran War: Report

Republican lawmakers are considering cuts in healthcare spending to help pay for the war against Iran, Axios reported Monday.

With the Department of Defense reportedly seeking upwards of $200 billion in supplemental funding, House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington is reportedly reviving a proposal to reduce cost-sharing subsidies for people who have obtained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that the proposed plan would save $31 billion over 10 years, while increasing the number of people without insurance by 300,000.

There are other policy adjustments under discussion, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that lawmakers are looking at a range of options for cutting costs. "There's other items we're looking at right now, especially in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we're working through with our members," he told Axios.

Though nothing is settled at this point, Democrats were happy to jump on the report that Republicans might cut healthcare to help pay for a war. "Republicans in Congress want to cut Americans' health care to pay for more war in Iran," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on social media. "Let that sink in."

Number of the Day: $100

Oil prices continued to rise Monday as President Trump delivered a new round of threats against Iran, with U.S. crude futures settling above $100 per barrel for the first time since the war began. West Texas crude settled at $102.88, the highest since July 2022, and moved above $105 in trading later in the day. Brent crude settled at $112.78 per barrel after briefly touching $116.

In an interview with Edward Luce of the Financial Times Sunday, Trump said his "preference would be to take the oil" as he discussed the progress of the war in Iran. That would likely require seizing Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, which Trump said the U.S. could do "very easily."

"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't," Trump said. "We have a lot of options."

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