DHS funding bill heads to House after late-night Senate approval
The House is expected to vote Friday on a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security and end a partial government shutdown that has resulted in historically long wait times at airport security checkpoints.
The Senate passed the bill early Friday morning, ending a 42-day standoff and agreeing to fund all DHS functions except immigration enforcement and deportation operations. Funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection had been a sticking point as Democrats demanded changes to the agencies’ operations after immigration officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January.
The bill includes $20 million for body cameras for immigration officers, but does not require that they be worn. It does not bar ICE agents from wearing masks, as Democrats had demanded. Nor does it require that officers obtain warrants signed by a judge before entering private homes.
However, the bill does not address future funding for ICE or the parts of CBP involved in immigration enforcement, setting up later debates that could allow Democrats to seek the changes they wanted.
DHS shutdown caused chaos at airports
If the House approves the measure, it would pave the way to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, who face missing their second paycheck in a row this week.
Nearly 500 TSA employees have quit at airports around the country, and the number of officers calling out daily has skyrocketed. The staffing shortage has led to historically long lines at security checkpoints at major U.S. airports. At some locations, travelers have been delayed for four hours or more.
President Donald Trump announced an emergency order on Thursday to pay TSA agents. It’s unclear whether he would sign the Senate bill into law.
What lawmakers are saying
The Senate had failed seven times to pass a DHS funding bill, and the passage on the eighth try did not ease partisan rancor.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Friday’s outcome was “unfortunate.”
“The Dems wanted reforms,” he said. “We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms but, you know, we’re going to have to fight some of those battles another day.”
He called on the House to pass the bill before beginning a two-week congressional recess.
“Hopefully they’ll [the House] be around, and we can get at least a lot of the government opened up again, and then we’ll go from there,” Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the approval a “long overdue agreement,” saying it “strengthens security at the border and the ports of entry, and keeps Americans safe.”
He noted the deal “could have been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn’t stood in the way.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
