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Early this week, Senate Republicans and the president appeared to be edging closer to a framework to ending the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which is now in its second month — but a breakthrough has remained out of reach.
CBS News contacted all 532 House and Senate offices (there are three House vacancies) about the DHS funding impasse and asked what lawmakers are doing to end the shutdown.
How would they restore DHS funding? What’s their message to Americans waiting in hourslong airport security lines? And what do they have to say to unpaid TSA workers who are about to miss their second full paycheck Friday?
Senate: Partisan blame game
Twenty Senate offices responded substantively to CBS News’s inquiries.
Republicans blamed Democrats for blocking efforts to fully fund DHS. The House of Representatives has twice passed such a bill with a handful of Democrats signing on, but in the Senate, Democrats have held up the bill over demands for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reforms after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in January.
“It makes me angry. The Department of Homeland Security has now been shut down for over a month. And it’s important to understand that it’s Senate Democrats doing this,” said Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi.
Some Democratic lawmakers have pushed to separate out ICE and CBP funding and vote to open the rest of the department. On Tuesday, Senate Republican leaders floated a version of that idea, proposing to fund every component of DHS except for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, which is flush with cash in spite of the shutdown because of funding that was separately passed by Congress last summer.
GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas criticized the idea of isolating ICE funding this week. “Breaking that apart or selectively defunding components is dangerous, which is why I’ve been fighting every day on the Senate floor and exploring every avenue to fully fund the agency.”
Several lawmakers expressed gratitude for the unpaid TSA workers.
“Americans should not be waiting in line for hours at the airport and all of our DHS workers should be paid, which is why we continue working to find a path forward. We truly appreciate our TSA agents and are working to get them paid,” said Kami Capener, a spokesperson for GOP Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota.
Almost every Democrat who responded blamed Republicans for refusing to reopen most of DHS while continuing to negotiate on immigration enforcement funding. ICE has already received tens of billions in funding separately through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year.
“I’m with the American people in demanding accountability to rein in ICE and CBP’s lawlessness — anything short of that is a nonstarter for me,” said Sen. Alex Padilla of California.
Democrats are seeking ICE policy changes like requiring agents to use body-worn cameras, banning the use of masks during enforcement operations and obtaining judicial warrants in certain cases.
Sen. Martin Heinrich of border state New Mexico told CBS News, “I will not support funding ICE without a restoration to the rule of law.”
Some Democrats took shots at President Trump who has previously said he would not sign any bill until Congress passes his election bill, the SAVE America Act, which includes voter ID requirements, proof of citizenship for voter registration and restrictions on transgender rights.
“Our federal workers deserve their paychecks. Travelers deserve functioning airports. And most importantly, Americans should not be pawns in the president’s political games,” Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said.
CBS News interviewed some members in person, while other lawmakers were reached by phone and email.
“Republicans could end this farce any time by joining Democrats to fund TSA and pay these dedicated federal workers,” said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.
House: “It’s the Senate’s turn”
More than 60 House members responded substantively to CBS’s questions.
Several Republicans suggested there was little they could do since it is up to the Senate to act.
“Now it’s the Senate’s turn, and Democrats need to stop stalling and get the bill to the President’s desk,” said Florida Republican Rep. Mike Haridolopos, who voted for the House bill to fully fund DHS. “Thirty-nine days in, the results are obvious: hourslong lines, missed flights, families stranded. And for what? Political leverage?”
“Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and they are choosing chaos at our airports over a commonsense solution,” said Rep. Laura Friedman, a Democrat from California, and a co-sponsor of a bill that would pay TSA workers while immigration enforcement negotiations continue.
GOP Rep. Nick LaLota of New York visited TSA employees at LaGuardia Airport in New York Tuesday, he told CBS News on “The Takeout.” He said the department should be funded at its pre-shutdown level if lawmakers cannot reach a deal.
“We should pay our TSA agents,” LaLota said. “I’m flexible…I can sign on to a deal that doesn’t get 100% of what I want.”
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, signaled a similar flexibility: “I’m willing to support whatever compromise the Senate reaches to secure 60 votes.” The House will likely have to vote again on whatever bill passes the Senate.
“Republicans in the House of Representatives have done our job, twice,” GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas told CBS.
Rep. Kevin Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, is the author of the legislation to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. In a statement to CBS News, his spokesperson said, “Of course he is doing everything he can to get DHS funded,” as the funding lapse enters its 40th day.
Though the legislation is held up in the Senate, House members continued to point fingers across the aisle.
“I am imploring my Republican colleagues to join Democrats in passing legislation to pay TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, and Secret Service while Congress works to secure essential ICE reforms,” Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin told CBS News. “Senate Democrats have put forward numerous resolutions to pass TSA funding that Republicans have blocked.”
“Democrats have fought tirelessly to fully fund agencies like TSA while we push for an overhaul of Trump’s brutal ICE policies that have gotten three Americans killed in the streets,” Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida told CBS News.
Several House members noted the lasting impact the DHS shutdown will have on public servants.
“I know exactly who pays the price for a shutdown. It’s not members of Congress. It’s TSA agents, air traffic controllers, Coast Guard servicemembers, and FEMA personnel,” GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa said.
“Disagree on policy all you want, but you can’t force the people who keep this country safe to pay the price,” she said. “It’s time to end the games and fund DHS.”
