US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson rejected a Senate-passed bill that would fund the Transportation Security Administration, claiming it leaves out funding for multiple agencies that do border or immigration work
A lapse in government funding has caused misery at US airports, which are struggling to screen travelers
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson rejected a Senate-passed bill that would fund the Transportation Security Administration, claiming it leaves out funding for multiple agencies that do border or immigration work
US House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead passed their own funding measure late Friday, extending a weeks-long budget standoff that has disrupted travel.
The stopgap bill, which proposes funding the DHS in full for eight weeks, passed by 213 to 203 votes after Republicans in the lower chamber refused to take up a Senate-passed deal that excluded money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
It essentially prolongs a standoff that has forced thousands of airport security staff to work without pay, even as the White House said President Donald Trump ordered that the personnel finally be compensated.
A funding measure "that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
"Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions -- but we will not give a blank check to Trump's lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms."
The late-night vote came after House Speaker Mike Johnson called the earlier bipartisan Senate bill a "joke" for withholding money for the agencies responsible for carrying out Trump's controversial deportation crackdown.
House Republicans instead introduced competing legislation that would fully fund Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff, as well as immigration agents and Border Patrol personnel.
Both chambers must pass the same version of a bill before it can go to the president's desk.
With the lapse in federal funding -- and weeks of chaos at American airports -- expected to be extended, the White House said Trump signed a memorandum Friday ordering his administration to resolve the "unprecedented emergency situation" and find the funds necessary to pay TSA salaries.
Before the House approved the funding bill, the DHS -- which oversees multiple agencies including TSA -- posted on X that "TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30."
A partial government shutdown has left TSA staff -- who screen passengers, baggage and cargo -- without pay since mid-February.
The stalemate has led to crushing delays. At Houston's international airport, security lines stretched far into the distance and airport staff handed out bottles of water, an AFP reporter saw Friday.
The funding dispute centers on demands by Democrats for reforms to ICE, an agency facing nationwide criticism for its aggressive tactics.
Senators had voted early Friday to fund DHS, except for ICE and US Border Patrol, for 2026.
That bill would have provided funding for TSA, the US Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other operations. It did not include Democrats' proposed reforms.
The lack of ICE or Border Patrol funding would not have barred those agencies from conducting their operations because the Republican-controlled Congress directed substantial extra funding to both agencies in 2025.
- 'Gambit' rejected -
Johnson said Republicans would not go along with the Senate's effort, criticising it for being too close to the Democrat position.
"This gambit that was done last night is a joke," Johnson told reporters, complaining that the Senate bill, which passed unanimously, left US borders unsecured.
The top Republican and Trump ally said he spoke to the president who "understands exactly what we're doing and why, and he supports it."
The passing of the bill comes before the Senate embarks on a two-week break, with the House beginning its own from Friday, potentially meaning more dragged-out pain for air travelers and TSA workers.
Trump previously said he would not sign a funding deal unless Congress also passes a contentious bill to overhaul how citizens register to vote in US elections.
Republicans hold a majority in both congressional chambers, but due to Senate rules, a certain number of Democratic votes would be required to pass budget bills.
Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said his party was seeking to force a House vote on the Senate's bipartisan measure.
The political fight has strained TSA services. Nearly 500 transportation security officers have quit, according to the White House, and unscheduled absences have surged since the partial shutdown began.
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