House Democrats largely voted in lockstep to continue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown Thursday despite growing fallout over air travel nationwide.
Democrats’ opposition to ending the funding lapse — the second-longest in history — comes as lawmakers could leave for recess before striking a deal.
The DHS funding measure still passed the House largely along party lines in a vote of 218-206. It was the third time House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has held a vote on the legislation since the funding lapse began Feb. 14.
The measure, sponsored by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., would fund the department through the end of September. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C., were the only Democrats to vote “yes” after previously supporting the DHS funding measure earlier in March.
SEE IT: TRAVELERS SOUND OFF AS ICE AGENTS DEPLOYED TO AIRPORTS AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS PAST 40 DAYS
Still, the measure is likely dead on arrival in the Senate, where both parties continue to negotiate an end to the stalemate.
Democrats have remained dug in against providing funding to DHS sub-agencies executing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Top Democratic leaders continue to demand sweeping reforms — including requiring the use of judicial warrants — that Republicans have charged could impede law enforcement efforts.
The funding standoff has caused major travel disruptions nationwide as a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents has resulted in hours-long wait times at security checkpoints. More than 50,000 TSA personnel are set to miss their second full paycheck on Friday, leading to nearly 500 agents quitting and a surge in callouts.
“They’re using TSA agents, Coast Guardsmen and other DHS employees as pawns in their political game,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “They’re just demonstrating a real willingness to hold hostage the American public.”
Members of the conservative RSC held a news conference Tuesday at Washington’s Reagan National Airport to spotlight the financial difficulties TSA officers are facing. Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl said some personnel, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, are sleeping in their cars and selling blood plasma to make ends meet.
“The Democrats know their plan is not working,” Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., told reporters. “They know Americans are hurting, and they are still doing it anyway.”
FLASHBACK: JEFFRIES CALLED FAILING TO FULLY FUND DHS AN ‘ABDICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY’
House Democrats, however, have sought to blame Republicans for the funding stalemate and have signaled reluctance to walk away from their ICE reform demands.
“We want ICE to be compelled to conduct itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Wednesday. “Immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane—that’s not what’s happening right now. ICE is out of control, and taxpayer dollars are being used in unacceptable ways.”
Republicans have fired back that it is essential to fund ICE, invoking the murder of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, who was killed by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Chicago last week. The foreign national, Jose Medina-Medina, was taken into custody by federal law enforcement in May 2023 but released into the United States under the Biden administration.
“Democrats in the House are demanding a DHS bill that would eliminate funding for the exact agencies that are tasked with preventing a tragedy like this,” Speaker Johnson said Wednesday during a House GOP leadership press conference. “They tell you what they prioritize. And it is the welfare of criminal illegal aliens over American citizens. We ought to believe what they say, the words in action.”
When asked about Gorman’s murder by an illegal immigrant Wednesday, Jeffries told Fox News he would look into the case without commenting further.
