Congressional dysfunction puts TSA, Secret Service pay at risk

The Department of Homeland Security has been closed for more than 70 days and Congress appears to be deadlocked on a number of controversial topics, so there appears to be no quick end to the funding shortfall.

As the House proceedings began on Tuesday, some people turned to higher powers.

House Rules Committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. “I have a copy of the Serenity Prayer here,” he said as he opened the hearing Tuesday afternoon. “God give me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, the wisdom to know the differences.”

The list of tasks of Congress is long. In addition to DHS funding, it includes thorny legislation like the reauthorization of a controversial foreign surveillance program set to expire at the end of April, a bill that sets agriculture and food policies and a budget measure on Republican immigration priorities that some hope will pave the way for an end to the partial government shutdown.

While Congress suffers from laxity, it is also short of time. Both houses are expected to have a one-week vacation from Friday. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April authorizing all DHS employees to be paid during the shutdown. But according to him, the emergency funding could run out by May 1 Trump administration officials.

If that happens, Transportation Security Administration agents may not start getting paid again, which caused massive delays at airports across the country at the beginning of the shutdown. It could also mean that the Secret Service agents who stopped an alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner over the weekend could soon go without pay along with other DHS employees.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The Senate passed DHS funding twice, unanimously, 33 days ago,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.

The Senate approved a DHS bill in late March that would have defunded the agency except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection, but the House rejected the proposal amid opposition from conservatives within the conference.

“(Speaker Mike) Johnson just has to put it in the House and it will pass. It will pass by a lot of votes. But right now, Republicans are blocking it,” Schumer said.

just stuck

The pointing fingers over DHS funding go both ways.

Republicans have repeatedly taken aim at Democrats, who refused to defund DHS in February after two US citizens were killed by federal agents in January during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Most Democrats continue to withdraw their support from any legislation that would defund ICE and parts of CBP without changes in immigration enforcement practices.

“The radical left Democrats have shut down DHS since February 14th. Our great Speaker, Mike Johnson, the Democrats are working hard to end the shutdown, and passing the first phase of a plan to get full funding for our incredible ICE and Border Patrol agents,” President Donald Trump Posted on Truth Social on Monday, referring to a budget proposal that Republicans introduced last week as part of the “budget reconciliation” process.

Budget reconciliation is a way to pass spending-related initiatives with a simple majority in the Senate, as opposed to the 60-vote threshold to overcome the filibuster in the chamber, which allows controversial provisions to pass on a party-line vote.

House Republicans have said that passing a reconciliation bill to fund ICE and CBP is a prerequisite to voting for a bill to fund the rest of DHS. But the entire two-step plan to end the partial government shutdown is stalled this week as the House debates other controversial bills.

Making matters more complicated, Johnson told reporters on Monday that House approval would require changing the Senate-passed version of the DHS funding bill, in which case it would have to go back to the upper chamber for final approval.

Asked about Johnson’s amended version of the bill, Schumer said Tuesday, “We don’t know what they’re talking about.” “They’re just stuck.”

Republican infighting has blocked DHS funding and other legislation.

The House Rules Committee — which typically determines which bills come to the House floor — returned to Congress on Monday with hopes of simultaneously moving forward reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the ICE and CBP budget resolution and the Farm Bill. Comprehensive DHS funding was not included in that plan because many House Republicans say they would not support that measure without first funding ICE and CBP.

But Republican infighting scuttled those plans as the Rules Committee — which is supposed to set rules for debate before legislation reaches the House floor — failed to come to an agreement.

The right wing of the party has sought changes to FISA, including requiring a warrant for US data seized as part of the program. Republican radicals too Opposed the provisions of the agricultural bill They say this will protect pesticide manufacturers from liability.

With a narrow majority, Republican leaders can risk losing some of their members to advance any legislation.

“Note the common theme in DHS funding, the reconciliation bill and the 702 extension: All three are embroiled in internal Republican fights,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Posted on x On Tuesday. “This isn’t partisan division, this is Republican incompetence.”