President Donald Trump is ordering the Department of Homeland Security to allocate funding toward the Transportation Security Administration to pay agents working amid the five-week shutdown.
Trump announced the decision in a Truth Social post on Thursday evening as negotiations on Capitol Hill continued between Republicans and Democrats. The move follows a similar decision to pay members of the Coast Guard as the department has been closed for more than a month.
“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!” Trump wrote. “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.”
It’s not clear if Trump is only greenlighting one paycheck, if he’ll provide backpay for the weeks of missing pay, or if it will cover only the agents who are still working and have not quit their post.
It’s also unclear where the funds will be allocated from, although it could be transferred from money already set aside in the Big Beautiful Bill last summer.
But the decision comes as party leaders on both sides of the aisle clamor to come to an agreement on funding the entirety of the DHS budget, with an exception for certain immigration operations.
How we got here
Senate Republicans gave their Democratic counterparts a “final offer” to reopen the Department of Homeland Security while implementing some immigration reforms on Thursday morning, hoping to bring the nearly six-week shutdown to an end.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., declined to share details of what was included in the latest counterproposal. But it comes just one day after Republicans criticized Democrats for being “unserious” in the prolonged negotiations, raising questions about how long the federal funding lapse would drag on.
“Let’s look at how the Dems react to what’s out there, and hopefully we can find a pathway to drive this to the finish line,” Thune said on Thursday.
The latest counterproposal was made earlier this week, with Republicans offering to fulfill 95% of the DHS budget but omit funds for removal operations through Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The deal would still contain ICE reform demands made by Democrats over the last several weeks such as money for body cameras, but the minority party still said it did not go far enough to meet their demands.
Those involved in the negotiations were tight-lipped about what the latest offer entailed, indicating a deal may be closer than previous talks.
“I’ll just respect my Democratic colleagues in this process and allow this to play out,” Sen. Katie Britt, who has been leading negotiations on the Republican side, told reporters. “But I certainly appreciate many of them coming to the table last night and this morning to work to ground a pathway forward.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, her Democratic counterpart, similarly declined to share details.
“I don’t have any updates,” he said. “I mean, there’s obviously active talks happening. I don’t know whether it can land.”
White House involved in DHS negotiations
The offer came after a group of Republican senators met with the White House on Monday evening to hash out the details of a potential agreement, hoping to end the gridlock with Democrats who have demanded reforms for how immigration officers operate.
Thune did not explicitly say whether the White House had a hand in crafting the “final deal,” but noted administration officials “have been involved in the back and forth that has occurred overnight and all morning this morning.”
The deal, if approved, would fund agencies such as TSA and the Coast Guard but leave out funding for enforcement and removal operations. Those more controversial funds for ICE could then be handled in a future reconciliation package, a procedural tool that would allow Republicans to avoid a filibuster and approve the funds through a party-line vote.
Democrats have not yet responded to the latest counterproposal. It’s not clear when the bill could get a vote, but it’s possible that Republicans will pressure Democrats on the floor to get a deal passed before the weekend.
The Senate is scheduled to leave on Friday for a two-week recess, but those plans could be changed if the department is still shut down.