US senate approves funds for Homeland Security – but not immigration enforcement
The US senate has approved Homeland Security funds to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents and most other agencies, but not the immigration enforcement operations at the heart of the budget impasse that has jammed airports, disrupted travel and imposed financial hardship on workers.
The deal, which the senate approved unanimously without a roll call, next goes to the house of representatives, which is expected to consider it later on Friday.
Senate majority leader John Thune said: “We can get at least a lot of the government opened up again and then we’ll go from there.
“Obviously, we’ll still have some work ahead of us.”
In Arkansas, our airport workforces in NWA and Little Rock are helping collect food donations and gift cards for their TSA teammates who have been working without pay.
— Senator John Boozman (@JohnBoozman) March 26, 2026
It's past time for my Democratic colleagues to stop ignoring these dire consequences and do the right thing.
With pressure mounting to resolve the 42-day stalemate over funding for the US Department of Homeland Security, the endgame emerged in the final hours before TSA workers miss another pay cheque.
US president Donald Trump said he would sign an order to immediately pay the TSA agents, saying he wanted to quickly stop the “chaos at the airports”.
The deal did not include any of the restraints Democrats have demanded as they sought to rein in Mr Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the outcome could have been reached weeks ago, and vowed that his party would continue fighting to ensure Mr Trump’s “rogue” immigration operation “does not get more funding without serious reform”.
Senators worked through the night on the deal that would fund much of the rest of the department, including the federal emergency management agency, the coast guard and TSA, but without funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Customs was funded, but border protection was not.
The package puts no new limits on immigration enforcement, which has remained largely uninterrupted by the shutdown.
The Republicans’ big tax cuts bill that Mr Trump signed into law last year funnelled billions in extra funds to DHS, including 75 billion dollars (£56 billion) for Ice operations, ensuring the immigration officers are still being paid despite the lapse.
Next steps in the house, where speaker Mike Johnson holds a slim majority, are uncertain. Passage will almost certainly require bipartisan support, as legislators on the left and right flanks revolt.
Conservative Republicans have panned their own party’s proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations. Many have vowed to ensure Ice has the resources it needs in the next budget package to carry out Mr Trump’s agenda.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 26, 2026
Senator Eric Schmitt said: “We will fully fund Ice. That is what this fight is about,” as he tried to offer legislation to fund the agency.
“The border is closing. The next task is deportation.”
The funding shutdown has resulted in travel delays and even warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing pay cheques stop coming to work.
Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown.
Across the US on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts.
Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union is grateful the TSA workers will be paid, but said US congress must stay in session to pass a deal “that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running”.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
