If you’ve ever stood in a grueling airport security line, staring at outdated screening bins and wondering where your ticket fees actually go, you aren’t alone. Congress is finally asking the same question.
The House Committee on Homeland Security recently <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/tsa-modernization-industry-perspectives-on-key-security-and-travel-reforms-25-years-after-9-11/">convened a hearing</a> to tackle a frustrating reality: America’s airport security is lagging behind, and a major reason why is a quiet raid on your wallet.
When you buy a plane ticket, you pay a &#8220;9/11 Passenger Security Fee&#8221; intended to fund airport safety. However, billions of those dollars have been diverted by the government to pay down unrelated federal debt. Airline and airport executives testified that this practice has starved the TSA of nearly $16 billion over the last 13 years, delaying vital, fast-tracking screening technology by an estimated 15 years.
To fix this, lawmakers have introduced the SAFEGUARDS Act, which would legally lock your security fees into actual airport upgrades.
But it’s not just about better scanners — it’s about making your actual travel day less stressful. If you’ve ever felt the panic of folding a stroller or corralling toddlers while a line of business travelers sighs behind you, help is on the way.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) introduced the Improving Travel for American Families Act, which would launch a pilot program to create dedicated, stress-free screening lanes specifically for families traveling with children under 12.
The hearing also shed light on the invisible backbone of your travel experience: the TSA officers themselves. Committee Chairman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY) revealed the staggering toll that recent government shutdowns took on airport staff. Frontline officers endured 119 days working without a paycheck — meaning they protected roughly 40% of the fiscal year entirely on credit, yet still showed up every day to keep the skies safe.
Looking ahead, with massive crowds bound for the upcoming U.S. World Cup and Olympic Games, officials warned that the TSA can no longer run on old tools and empty promises. By stopping the fee diversion and investing in smarter public-private partnerships, lawmakers hope to finally create a modern airport experience — one where the security is world-class, but the lines are a thing of the past.

Travelers Ahead Of Memorial Day Weekend

The Frustrating Truth Behind America’s Airport Security Nightmare

Tired Of TSA Line Panic? How Congress Plans to End Your Airport Travel Stress.

Airports

In the 2009 corporate comedy film Up in the Air, George Clooney, playing a frequent-flyer-obsessed downsizing consultant, coaches a new colleague on the quickest path through airport security. “Never get behind old people. Their bodies are littered with hidden metal, and they never seem to appreciate how little time they have left. Bingo, Asians. They pack light, travel efficiently, and they have a thing for slip-on shoes. Gotta love &#8217;em,” he says.
If Clooney’s character were traveling in American airports today, even the slickest stereotyping strategy or high-miler status wouldn’t <a href="https://usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/03/25/tsa-line-airport-wait-times-highest-in-history/89314232007/">save him</a> from long queues, especially in near-routine government shutdowns.
That’s because airport security has, like too many things in our daily lives, been ceded to funding, management, and control by Washington, D.C., staffed by blue-gloved agents of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under the Department of Homeland Security. And as with every government shutdown, disappearing checks for TSA screeners means fewer agents on duty while lines balloon.
President Donald Trump’s latest budget request for DHS includes an eyebrow-raising suggestion that many of us have waited for far too long: putting airport security back in private hands.
Specifically, Trump’s plan would shift TSA from operating airport security to serving as a regulator, resulting in <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2026-04/26_0403_ocfo_fy27-budget-transportation-security-administration.pdf">$52 million in net savings</a> while expanding the Screening Partnership Program already in place at nearly two dozen airports. That includes major hubs like San Francisco (SFO) and Kansas City, which were immune to shutdown-induced security slowdowns that caused chaos at other airports.
The arguments about putting TSA on the chopping block are not a new invention of the Trump era or even fever dreams of libertarian think tanks. Even the godfather of the TSA recognized that it became a bureaucratic behemoth within just a decade of its creation. U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-FL), an architect of early TSA legislation, later regretted the agency’s creation, calling it his “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111005090404/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46114">little bastard child</a>.”
“The whole thing is a complete fiasco,” Mica said. He advocated dismantling the agency entirely and privatizing airport security. His own committee found the switch could save taxpayers as much as 40%.
But we should go further than that. While we’re at it, <a href="https://x.com/YaelOss/status/1557110983671308289?s=20">give me more private airports</a> like in other parts of the world.
Europeans are simply better (airport) capitalists than us in America. Many of them are even listed on the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/FLU:AV">stock markets</a>. According to the Airport Council International, 41% of European airports have <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7502006/%23!po=6.32184">some private sector involvement</a> in airport ownership, representing nearly three-quarters of all passenger volume. In North America, meanwhile, we have a paltry 2 percent of our airports with any private investment.
Transitioning to a model in which airports would not only manage their own security operations but also open their ownership and management to public-private partnerships and more accountable private firms is an idea many travelers should welcome. And taxpayers even more.
With transparent private competition, answerable to airports and travelers rather than agency budgets, the American traveler would once again feel like traveling is a joyful and pleasant experience rather than a bureaucratic nightmare.
Just because Congress voted to <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/about/employee-stories/day-tsa-history-november-19-2001">federalize airline security</a> in the wake of 9/11 does not mean that we have somehow forgotten how to properly screen for security threats at airports without large government bureaucracies. The model already exists and seems to please the Silicon Valley fliers out of San Francisco just fine without any <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/these-20-airports-dont-use-tsa-screeners-2026-3">measurable drop</a> in security effectiveness.
Congress should follow the Trump administration’s lead by extending the program to every willing airport and creating a clear pathway for greater private involvement. Not just screening, but ownership and operation. Let airports raise private capital, compete for travelers, and answer to passengers instead of appropriations committees.
Defunding the TSA and redefining its role as a regulator won’t end airport security. It will just make it work. Let’s give it a shot.
***
Yaël Ossowski is deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center.

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-TRANSIT-AVIATION

Ignore The Fearmongers, Privatize The TSA

federal regulation

Trump Administration

Agents with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should start seeing paychecks Monday or Tuesday, but it could still be quite some time before the business of traveling by air returns to business as usual.
Border Czar Tom Homan told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday that he had spoken with newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about President Donald Trump&#8217;s order — which directed him to pay TSA agents out of preexisting funding — and that they expected agents to see their first paychecks in weeks within the coming days.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Border Czar Tom Homan says TSA agents can expect to be paid &#8220;tomorrow or Tuesday.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/b8XBX11sLC">pic.twitter.com/b8XBX11sLC</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/2038245064388858129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Homan also addressed Trump&#8217;s decision to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into airports — a move made to mitigate the chaos of long lines and wait times as the lack of pay led to mass callouts among TSA employees — and said that they may remain in place for a time yet.
&#8220;We’ll see. You know, it depends how many TSA agents come back to work. How many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan coming back to work? I’m working very closely with TSA administrator and the ICE director to decide what airport needs what,&#8221; Homan told Tapper.
The president issued an executive order on Friday directing Mullin to use funding that had &#8220;a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations&#8221; to ensure that agents received pay. They have not been paid since Democrats voted against funding the Department of Homeland Security some six weeks earlier, forcing a partial government shutdown that has also impacted the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Secret Service.
The Democrats voted to block the DHS funding bill after the deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the ICE surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, despite the fact that ICE agents were still being paid under provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
But as Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin <a href="https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2037604682370003061">reported</a>, only frontline ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents are receiving paychecks amid the shutdown.
&#8220;The ICE, Border Patrol, and CBP agents we see in the field are all getting paid via OBBB. HOWEVER &#8230; their professional and civilian support staff are NOT being paid,&#8221; Melugin explained. &#8220;These are people who work the computers, the public affairs offices, and other support staff who aren&#8217;t on the front line making immigration arrests, but are supporting the agents who are. These civilian support staffers haven&#8217;t been paid for almost half of the last six months when you factor in the prior shutdown last fall.&#8221;
In an effort to get the TSA funded, the Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-strikes-overnight-deal-to-pay-tsa-agents-in-bid-to-end-airport-chaos">passed a measure</a> on Thursday that would break the logjam for most of DHS — with the exception of ICE and some parts of Border Patrol. But following President Trump&#8217;s lead, the House rejected the bill.
Neither the Senate bill nor a House bill that would fully fund DHS includes any of the ICE reforms demanded by Democrats, such as a ban on federal immigration agents wearing masks and a provision requiring judicial warrants for immigration enforcement operations.

TSA_Trump

Trump Gets TSA Paid Starting Today As ICE Presence Hinges On One Key Factor

Paychecks Are Coming For The TSA, But When Will Things Get Back To Normal?

Air Travel

Government Shutdown

Politics

Tom Homan

WASHINGTON—If you&#8217;re looking for Bernie Sanders, you won&#8217;t find him here.
Vermont&#8217;s socialist senator was <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/03/27/sen-bernie-sanders-catches-first-class-flight-after-funding-bill-fails/?adid=social-tw">spotted</a> in first class on a 2:49 p.m. flight out of Reagan National Airport Friday afternoon — minutes after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) vowed to reject the partial Department of Homeland Security funding bill Sanders and his colleagues in the upper chamber had passed around 2:00 a.m.
About an hour after Sanders&#8217;s flight took off, President Donald Trump entered the fray on Johnson&#8217;s side, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-kills-senate-bill-to-re-open-dhs-without-ice-funding?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Kills+Senate+Bill+To+Re-Open+DHS+Without+ICE+Funding">saying</a> the Senate bill — which carved ICE and Border Patrol out of DHS funding — &#8220;wasn&#8217;t appropriate.&#8221; Emboldened by the president, the House late Friday night rejected the Senate&#8217;s bill, instead passing a separate measure that would fund the entire Department of Homeland Security for 60 days.
What happens next is unclear, as Sanders wasn&#8217;t the only senator to skip town after the final vote. The Senate adjourned Friday for a two-week recess, and has no plans to reconvene before its planned April 13 return. As of Saturday morning, the partial shutdown of DHS has become the longest funding lapse in American history, surpassing 2025&#8217;s record-breaking government shutdown.
Sanders&#8217;s first-class escape makes him the latest lawmaker to be dinged for aerial hypocrisy amid the ongoing shutdown. As Americans waited up to four hours in TSA lines, members of Congress were often able to skip the lines entirely, making use of a perk exclusive to lawmakers. Delta Air Lines earned praise for suspending its special &#8220;congressional desk,&#8221; but as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/did-delta-stop-vip-treatment-for-congress-its-complicated?author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Did+Delta+Stop+VIP+Treatment+For+Congress%3F+It%E2%80%99s+Complicated.">reported</a>, lawmakers were still able to skip the security lines.
About 20 minutes before his flight departed, <a href="https://x.com/BernieSanders/status/2037594741273989383?s=20">Sanders took to X</a> to slam Elon Musk and &#8220;the wealthiest people in the world&#8221; for their views on AI. The senator is often criticized for railing against the wealthy, considering he himself is a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bloomberg-nails-socialist-bernie-youre-a-millionaire-with-3-houses">millionaire</a> who owns three homes.
On Saturday, Sanders will attend a &#8220;No Kings&#8221; rally in St. Paul, Minnesota — an event organized to protest Trump, an elected official.

Untitled design – 2026-03-28T100612.158

See How Bernie Sanders Bails On DHS Fight In Rules For Thee Not For Me Move

Bernie Sanders

Department of Homeland Security

Senate

WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives voted late Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security for 60 days, rejecting a compromise the Senate passed earlier in the day.
The vote was largely along party lines, with three Democrats crossing the aisle to fully fund the department through May 22. The final tally was 213—203.
The vote was a rebuke of the Senate, which early Friday morning passed a bill that carved ICE and Border Patrol out from the rest of the funding. While House Democrats fought to take up the Senate&#8217;s proposal, the measure seemed dead on arrival after President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval of the measure.
“You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-kills-senate-bill-to-re-open-dhs-without-ice-funding?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Kills+Senate+Bill+To+Re-Open+DHS+Without+ICE+Funding">said</a> Friday. &#8220;This whole thing is about the Democrats wanting to have open borders, no ICE, no Border Patrol. These people are crazy.&#8221;
Trump’s comments came after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other House Republicans trashed the Senate proposal and the subsequent departure of senators for a two-week Easter recess.
“They’ve gone half the fiscal year without a regular paycheck; we cannot ask that of anyone,” Johnson said in reference to TSA agents, who have dealt with the brunt of both the full federal government shutdown last fall and the current shutdown. “Republicans will do the responsible and honorable thing, and Democrats will continue to play politics.&#8221;
With both chambers heading out for Easter without a deal, the shutdown is on track to become the longest in history, now in its 42nd day.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday to pay TSA agents, as travelers have faced long wait times at airports nationwide due to officer callouts and resignations.
The House&#8217;s 60-day funding bill is unlikely to gain traction in the Senate, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) calling the bill &#8220;dead on arrival.&#8221;
“Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions,&#8221; Schumer said. &#8220;But we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms.”

Mike Johnson 9/10/25

House Forces Senate’s Hand On DHS Funding As Shutdown Nears Record Territory

Congress

homeland security

House of Representatives

Airport travelers and TSA agents took a sigh of relief when news broke that President Donald Trump had authorized funding for TSA via executive order, but the airport chaos left in its wake will not be fixed immediately.
Aviation experts indicate that noticeable improvements in security lines could begin within <a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/long-tsa-return-normal-shutdown-204351767.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">24 to 48</a> hours once funding is restored on Monday and back pay reaches the roughly 50,000 TSA officers who have gone without pay since the shutdown began in mid-February.
The shutdown caused dramatic callouts among TSA officials, with some airports reporting over <a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/tsa-forced-consolidate-lanes-may-120639220.html">40%</a> of officers not showing up for work. Many officers are expected to return quickly once they receive confirmation of full pay. However, full recovery to pre-shutdown staffing levels and typical wait times may take several days to weeks to return. Almost 500 TSA agents did not just call out sick; they quit their jobs. 
Longer wait times will persist as TSA scrambles to hire and onboard replacements. Due to the training it takes to become a TSA agent, it could be months before the program is fully restored. It takes a TSA agent <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2035521390514680155">4-6 months</a> before they are fully onboarded, trained, and able to work independently. 
TSA Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tsa-warns-longstanding-shutdown-fallout-even-after-funding-clears-major-event-could-make-it-worse">warned</a> that the impacts will be “long-standing,” with payroll processing delays and reduced morale continuing to affect operations even after the Senate-approved funding bill clears final hurdles. &#8220;I can tell you right now that the reverberations that will be felt from this will be long-standing. They will continue for days after we get a re-appropriation and funding, particularly for the department for TSA.” The administrator added, &#8220;But we&#8217;re working as quickly as possible with our partners to make sure once we get that money, we&#8217;ll hit the ground running and get that into our people&#8217;s pockets as quickly as possible.&#8221;
TSA officers faced significant financial pressure, with many relying on food donations and taking second jobs while continuing their work. Several communities even set up GoFundMe Accounts to help the agents. President Trump signed the executive order to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-to-pay-tsa-agents?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Signs+Executive+Order+To+Pay+TSA+Agents">pay</a> TSA agents early Friday, authorizing DHS to redirect funds to the agency that have a “reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations.”
“Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do!” he explained on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer.”
While TSA is now temporarily funded, the partial shutdown negotiations drag on, with the House expected to kill the shutdown deal passed by the Senate, arguing it cannot be passed without full funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

Long lines form outside Atlanta International Airport

Trump Just Funded TSA. Here’s When You Can Expect Shorter Lines At Airports.

TSA Funded. Here’s When Shorter Lines Are Coming

Executive Orders

Shutdown

<div>
President Donald Trump voiced his opposition to the bipartisan Senate deal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/congress-erupts-as-house-poised-to-reject-senate-deal-to-end-dhs-shutdown?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Congress+Erupts+As+House+Poised+To+Reject+Senate+Deal+To+End+DHS+Shutdown">passed</a> early Friday morning to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
Trump told <a href="https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/2037615753868833269?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> on Friday afternoon that “it wasn&#8217;t good. It wasn&#8217;t appropriate,” specifically mentioning how the proposal does not fund ICE and Border Patrol as part of the agreement.
“You can&#8217;t have a bill that&#8217;s not going to fund any form of law enforcement &#8230; This whole thing is about the Democrats wanting to have open borders, no ICE, no border patrol. These people are crazy,” he said, according to the outlet.
The president has repeatedly called for an end to the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule to move legislation forward, including DHS appropriations and the SAVE America Act, which is a voter identification bill.
Trump’s comments come after Speaker Mike Johnson and many other House Republicans trashed the Senate proposal and the subsequent departure of senators for a two-week recess for Easter.
Johnson will instead push for a continuing resolution until May 22, which would temporarily fund all of DHS while a longer-term solution for the remainder of the fiscal year is negotiated.
“They’ve gone half the fiscal year without a regular paycheck; we cannot ask that of anyone,” Johnson said in reference to TSA officers, who have dealt with the brunt of both the full federal government shutdown last fall and the current shutdown.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-to-pay-tsa-agents?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Signs+Executive+Order+To+Pay+TSA+Agents">signed</a> an order on Friday to pay TSA agents, as travelers have faced long wait times at airports nationwide due to officer callouts and resignations.
“Republicans will do the responsible and honorable thing, and Democrats will continue to play politics,” Johnson told reporters on Friday.
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has already called the possibility of a continuing resolution “dead on arrival.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said his caucus plans to back the bipartisan Senate proposal, saying Republicans have sought to &#8220;create chaos&#8221; at airports nationwide.
</div>
&#8220;House Democrats are prepared to support the bill to end the Trump-Republican shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security,&#8221; Jeffries said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
<div>
If the House of Representatives passes anything other than the Senate deal without additional amendments, it would have to return to the Senate before it could go to the president&#8217;s desk for his signature or veto.
</div>

Donald Trump

Trump Kills Senate Bill To Re-Open DHS Without ICE Funding

Immigration

John Thune

Mike Johnson

House Republican leaders seem poised to kill the Department of Homeland Security shutdown deal passed by the Senate early on Friday morning.
The Senate bill would fund all elements of DHS except for ICE and Border Patrol, with no immigration reforms made. However, many House Republicans have strongly opposed the deal passed by the Senate, arguing it caves to the Democrats.
“We are not playing their games. These people want open borders, and they want criminal illegal aliens in the country,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said of Democrats while addressing reporters on Friday.
Johnson said Trump “supports” the plan, noting that this will be the fourth time the House has voted to fund DHS. The Daily Wire reached out to the White House for comment.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that a continuing resolution proposal would not succeed in the Senate, calling it “dead on arrival.”
“Senate Democrats worked with Senate Republicans to reach a UNANIMOUS agreement to fund vital functions at DHS, including TSA, FEMA, CISA, and secure our ports of entry,” Schumer said in a <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2037581253365412224?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
“We&#8217;ve been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions — but we will not give a blank check to Trump&#8217;s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms,” the Democrat added.
Some members, like Rep. <a href="https://x.com/RepOgles/status/2037508704786952385?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Ogles</a> (R-TN), want to see voter identification added to a DHS funding bill, as the Senate struggles to pass the SAVE America Act, which is considered the top legislative priority of the president.
Rep. <a href="https://x.com/RepMarkHarrisNC/status/2037552402992169048?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Harris</a> (R-NC) even explicitly blamed Senate Republicans for backing the deal made.
“I am done with Senate Republicans. Their failure to fully fund DHS is not just disappointing — it’s a disgrace,” Harris posted to X. “They refused to fund ICE units that target sex traffickers. They refused to fund Border Patrol agents. And where is the SAVE America Act?”
“Once again, they have failed the American people. They have made one thing clear: Americans’ safety is not their priority,” he added.
Meanwhile, some Republicans in the House, like Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), argued that the House pursuing an alternative solution would only delay funding the department, according to the <a href="https://x.com/Olivia_Beavers/status/2037572638474661936?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wall Street Journal</a>.
On the Senate side, Senate Majority Leader <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/2037562792153137425?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Thune</a> posted to X on Friday that “Dems got ZERO restrictions that would prevent ICE and CBP agents from doing their jobs safely.”
“Dem leadership has proven once again they can’t be trusted to make a deal,” Thune continued. “Which begs the question if you’re a Dem senator or one of their left-wing supporters: What was this really all about?”

Congress Erupts As House Poised To Reject Senate Deal To End DHS Shutdown

Congress Erupts As House Seems Poised To Reject Senate Deal To End DHS Shutdown

President Donald Trump made the move official on Friday to pay TSA officers, after the Department of Homeland Security dragged out the process and left officers working without pay for weeks amid the partial government shutdown. Americans have been impacted by longer security wait times at major airports.
The memorandum also noted that officers will receive back pay, as the shutdown has gone on since mid-February.
&#8220;As the Democrat-caused shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues well into its sixth week, America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point,&#8221; the presidential memorandum to DHS states.
&#8220;This is an unprecedented emergency situation. Currently, more than 60,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, including approximately 50,000 transportation security officers who perform security functions at domestic airports, are not being paid due to congressional Democrats’ reckless decision to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over American citizens and shut down DHS until their demand to prohibit enforcement of Federal immigration law is met.&#8221;
The Senate voted to reopen most of DHS overnight, but the House seems poised to reject the deal as of Friday afternoon.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-weighs-major-move-as-americans-face-endless-airport-delays?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Weighs+Major+Move+As+Americans+Face+Endless+Airport+Delays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported earlier this week that while hundreds of officers have quit, others have resorted to extreme measures such as sleeping in their cars to save on gasoline and selling blood in order to get by financially.
“I can tell you, it’s not gonna be good,” TSA Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said during a press conference at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday.
“The first shutdown, we saw an increase of 25% in attrition after the lapse of the first shutdown,” he added regarding the full federal government shutdown in the fall.

Trump Signs Executive Order To Pay TSA Agents

You want to know why we are having all this trouble with the TSA?
One word: Democrats.
The standoff over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, continues. People are waiting for hours at airports because of it. 
According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5760981/tsa-wait-times-lines">NPR</a>:
<blockquote>The Transportation Security Administration is experiencing the longest wait times ever in its 24-year history because of the ongoing partial shutdown, the agency&#8217;s deputy administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Wait times at some major airports have exceeded four hours, and employees at those airports are calling out of work at rates of 40% to 50%, McNeill told members of the committee. If this partial government shutdown continues into Friday, TSA will have missed almost $1 billion in paychecks since it began, McNeill said. …</blockquote>
McNeill thanked Trump for sending ICE agents to some major airports, &#8220;enabling TSA officers to focus on carrying out critical security screening duties during this challenging time for our agency.”
TSA may have to close smaller airports due to understaffing, she said, and she worried the agency will continue to lose officers to more steady jobs and fail to attract new talent.
This is crazy town. It&#8217;s insanity.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2397-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
It&#8217;s happening because Democrats have decided that posturing over ICE is more important than basic safety standards and citizen protections all over the United States. 
Senate majority leader John Thune is not wrong when he says that Democrats seem to believe that the current shutdown is good for their left-wing base. For them, it&#8217;s all about politics, and it always has been.
In last fall’s shutdown by the Democrats, the whole government was shut down for 46 days. Remember Chuck Schumer saying, “Every day gets better for us”? Now you have Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Democrat leadership in this shutdown, saying. “We are very serene.”
It’s all playing politics and has been from the beginning. They think this is really good with their base. Their left-wing base won&#8217;t take yes for an answer, and so the Democrats won’t either. But they&#8217;re going to have to, because at some point, people will realize that it is the Democrats who are blockading and have been blockading funding to the Department of Homeland Security.
This is very simple. The Democrats are shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. Everyone knows this. All they have to do is pass a clean funding bill for DHS.
Instead, Democrats seem to think they can insult their way to political victory.
Jimmy Kimmel randomly insulted the new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, for the great crime of being a plumber, which is a weird take from Jimmy Kimmel, who was a shock-jock radio sports guy.
I was informed that it&#8217;s good that AOC was a bartender, but it&#8217;s bad that a senator who is now running DHS was a plumber?
Why?
Democrats are going even harder than that.
Brandon Johnson, the ridiculous mayor of Chicago, debuted his own snowplow truck festooned with a banner stating “Abolish ICE,” because he&#8217;s abolishing genuine ice, but he also wants to abolish ICE. 
Genius-level politicking.
Rep. Thomas Suozzi is arguing for full-scale legalization of illegal immigrants.
Democrats seem to believe that illegal immigrants roaming free is more important than you being able to get to your plane on time.
How pathetic is the Left on these issues?
The Loyola University of Chicago student newspaper —the campus newspaper of murdered student Sheridan Gorman — issued a formal apology for calling her murderer an illegal immigrant.
I&#8217;m not kidding. She was murdered, and the student newspaper stated, “In the body of the original post, we describe the man who was charged as an illegal immigrant using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with the Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper. No human&#8217;s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that. We acknowledge the harm such language can cause, and the power and importance of the words we choose to use.” 
Ridiculous.
No one says that a human&#8217;s existence is illegal. But the term is not illegal human. The term is illegal immigrant.
They are more concerned about the terminology used to address illegal immigration than they are about the fact that an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered one of their students.
The Democrats aren&#8217;t just defending illegal immigration. They&#8217;re defending crime wholesale.
A couple of years ago, we visited the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, which was basically an open-air fentanyl market, one of the most horrifying things I&#8217;ve ever seen in person.
Now, the Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner is threatening to prosecute IRS agents.
This is how crazy Democrats are. They believe that ICE agents ought to be prosecuted, but illegal immigrants ought not, and you should wait in line at the airport because of this.
The open lawbreaking in Philadelphia and the open anti-Americanism are astonishing. Pro-Iran, pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist protesters in Philadelphia even openly celebrated the killing of American troops.
For many of these folks, the lawbreaking is the point. The anti-Americanism is the point.
It makes you wonder on a broader level: Why do so many people in the Democratic Party seem so sanguine about a wide-open border, about importing people that we can&#8217;t vet, about allowing the taxpayer to pay for all these bills?
The answer is that a lot of the people in the Democratic Party are totally fine with anti-Americanism. They like anti-Americanism.
Ilhan Omar, another immigrant we never should have admitted to the United States, showed her wild hatred for America and our allies, ranting:
<blockquote>I&#8217;ve lived through war. I know it is not a game. It is never a one-time cost. It cannot be reduced to a soundbite by politicians who have no regard for the cost of human life when it comes to warfare. War is not paid for a dollar alone. It is paid in the lives of young Americans who we sent to fight this war.</blockquote>
Her pretending that she gives a damn about American soldiers is really galling. This is a woman who wrote a letter of support to a judge for a person who tried to join ISIS. This is a woman who said “something happened to some people” regarding 9/11.
Ilhan Omar has yet to find a terrorist group she cannot find some sort of excuse for.
All of this, of course, is part and parcel of a third-world strategy to undermine the United States. It suggests that people suffering in the Third World are the fault of the United States, and thus the United States must pay.
And all of this falls under the rubric of the Democratic Party not giving a damn about Americans.

Senate GOP Rejects Democrats’ Latest Bid To End DHS Shutdown

You’re In An Endless TSA Line Because Of Democrats

Ben Shapiro

Chuck Schumer

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Jimmy Kimmel

Opinion

WASHINGTON—The Senate voted to fund portions of the Department of Homeland Security early Friday morning, bringing a partial resolution to the funding lapse that began in February.
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, which will scramble to pass the bill before the weekend.
Lawmakers spent Friday morning reacting to the long-awaited action from the Senate, which omits funding for ICE and Border Patrol agents. Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles suggested the House should attach a voter ID provision to the bill, a response to the Senate&#8217;s inability to pass President Donald Trump&#8217;s favored SAVE America Act.
&#8220;WE in the HOUSE should AMEND the Senate Bill, ADD VOTER ID AND FORCE A VOTE IN THE SENATE,&#8221; Ogles<a href="https://x.com/RepOgles/status/2037508704786952385?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> posted</a> to X on Friday morning.
However, the Senate departed for its two-week long Easter recess, which could make any amendments to the proposal difficult without prolonging the shutdown even further.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is touting the deal as a victory. Democrats triggered the shutdown in mid-February in hopes of seeking major immigration enforcement reforms, even though none are included in this current funding deal.
&#8220;This long-overdue agreement funds TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, CISA; strengthens security at the border and at ports of entry; and keeps Americans safe. This could’ve been accomplished weeks ago if Republicans hadn’t stood in the way,&#8221; Schumer said on the Senate floor.
&#8220;Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms,&#8221; he added. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only member of the caucus consistently opposed to the shutdown strategy.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) slammed Democrats&#8217; approach to the shutdown.
&#8220;Real profiles in courage. They created this mess, couldn’t define victory, refused to take yes for an answer, and now get nothing. Their leadership is a disaster —and [Jeffries] shut down the government twice and got nothing for it, twice. Heckuva job!&#8221;
However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (SD) said that Democrats were not cooperative in the negotiation process.
&#8220;We could be standing here right now, passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement,&#8221; Thune said on the Senate floor. &#8220;But they didn&#8217;t. Because as is now clear to everyone, Democrats didn&#8217;t actually want a solution. They wanted an issue. Politics over policy. Self-interest, just over reform. Pandering to their base over actually solving a problem.&#8221;
Conservatives were not happy that the funding bill omits ICE funding.
&#8220;Total Senate GOP capitulation to Chuck Schumer. DHS funded EXCEPT FOR ICE,&#8221; Jim Pfaff, president of The Conservative Caucus,<a href="https://x.com/jimpfaff/status/2037511832605241355?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> posted</a>. &#8220;All this because Senators want to go on a two week, paid vacation.&#8221;
&#8220;Thune didn’t do anyone any favors with this bill.  The battle now turns to the Border Patrol and ICE.  That’s the Democrats’ goal. So, they punished the TSA and now they’ll punish Border Patrol and ICE.   In the end, the Democrats are blackmailing we, the American people,&#8221; conservative commentator Mark Levin<a href="https://x.com/marklevinshow/status/2037502661751116040?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> wrote</a>.
The state of talks appeared to change Thursday after President Donald Trump declared an emergency in order to allow for TSA officers to get paid, as airport security lines continued to be a top concern, even as ICE agents have begun assisting at some airports.
“Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday night.
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer,” he added.
Much of Trump’s immigration agenda was already funded last July through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” including major components of ICE and CBP, which has left the shutdown mostly impacting agencies like TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA.
The move to fund the department, with the exception of the immigration-related agencies, is what some Democrats have been seeking as negotiations continued, according to<a href="https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/2037336946658173369?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Punchbowl News</a>, but they have also requested a laundry list of federal immigration enforcement reforms ranging from an end to masking for agents to the use of judicial warrants for most arrests.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-dhs-funding-negotiations-are-falling-apart?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Why+DHS+Funding+Negotiations+Are+Falling+Apart" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported that talks on Wednesday were deteriorating as Democrats continued to push for reforms that were repeatedly rejected.
After Trump made the TSA announcement on Thursday, Sen.<a href="https://x.com/SenRonJohnson/status/2037307305323003946?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Ron Johnson</a> (R-WI) said it was a clear indicator that the negotiation process was not going anywhere with Democrats.
“Time to recognize reality — Democrats will never take yes for an answer. Stop trying to negotiate with them, and begin the Reconciliation Appropriation Process to fund [DHS] for multiple years,” Johnson wrote. “And do not fund ANY Democrat priorities!!!!”
On the flip side, House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member<a href="https://x.com/rosadelauro/status/2037332319808156152?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Rosa DeLauro</a> (D-CT) tweeted that she is “very glad that these workers are finally being paid.”
“It is shameful the Trump administration chose not to pay them for 41 days,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Why couldn’t it have been done sooner?”

House_TSA_Funding (1)

DHS Deal Funding TSA Clears First Hurdle — Now The Real Battle Begins

After weeks of airport meltdowns and unpaid security agents, the Senate finally blinked.
In a late-night vote that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning, lawmakers passed a funding bill to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security, a move aimed squarely at ending the travel nightmare and getting TSA agents paid again.
The deal comes after a brutal 42-day partial shutdown that left travelers stuck in massive lines, airports understaffed, and TSA officers working without pay. Some quit. Others called out. The result was exactly what you would expect. Chaos.
Now, relief may be on the way.
The bill funds most DHS operations and is expected to restore pay for TSA workers, easing pressure on airports that have been pushed to the brink.
The deal on the table still needs to clear the House before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk, but momentum is clearly there after the overnight breakthrough.
There is a catch.
The legislation leaves out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Border Patrol, setting up the next fight in Washington. That battle is not going away. It is just been delayed.
Democrats were quick to claim they “held the line” on immigration provisions. Republicans, meanwhile, moved to act as airport conditions deteriorated and the need to get TSA agents paid grew more urgent.
In a Truth Social post just hours earlier, Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer,” saying Democrats had made it clear they stand “on the side of criminal illegal aliens, and not the American people,” while accusing them of refusing to fund immigration enforcement unless Republicans agreed to “Open Border Policies.”
In that same post, Trump signaled he was ready to step in to make sure TSA agents could receive paychecks again and provide for their families, with or without Congress, raising the stakes on lawmakers to get something done.
They finally did. At 2 a.m.

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Senate Strikes Overnight Deal To Pay TSA Agents In Bid To End Airport Chaos

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