Congress Can Split Up the Homeland Security Funding
Congress Can Split Up the Homeland Security Funding
And to think, Congress was just about to look competent.
For the first time in decades, lawmakers came close to achieving regular order by passing eleven of twelve annual bills to fund the federal government on time. The one bill it left on the table was for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been without funding for well over a month. As Americans begin to feel the pain of this partial shutdown, it’s time to break the impasse.
Democrats forced the shutdown in February to block funding for federal immigration agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which detains illegal migrants in the nation’s interior, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which traditionally polices the border but has recently been deployed to cities. Furious at the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, Democrats refused to fund these agencies’ overarching department until they secured changes. Republicans have balked at their proposals, arguing they would kneecap lawful operations.
Although the policy battle in Washington has centered on ICE and Border Patrol practices, the immigration agencies are largely unaffected by the shutdown. Agents’ salaries are still being paid from money allocated in last year’s sprawling reconciliation bill. The law provided $75 billion in funding for immigration enforcement through 2029, and DHS can spend that money flexibly even during a shutdown.
The main victims of the shutdown, therefore, are the non-immigration agencies under the DHS umbrella: the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). FEMA, the federal government’s emergency-response agency, is not receiving new funding but has billions of dollars left over from previous congressional appropriations.
Given their vital national security role, most Coast Guard and Secret Service personnel are required to work despite missing paychecks. The same is theoretically true of the TSA. In practice, however, thousands of TSA agents are not coming in to work, knowing that they won’t be paid until Congress funds the agency. More than 400 officers have quit since the shutdown began. Of those who remain, up to a third of TSA officers at certain airports have called in sick or simply not shown up.
Extraordinary absence rates have made airport security even more of a nightmare than usual. This spring break season, travelers have encountered security lines that last for hours as screeners are stretched thin. The situation could get much worse soon. Even more TSA officers, overworked and unpaid, may stop coming in. Smaller airports might be forced to close temporarily, putting greater strain on other locations.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are proposing a solution to end the pain caused by the shutdown. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), the chairman of the Senate transportation committee, has called for splitting DHS funding between the two immigration agencies and the rest of the department. Senate Republicans would first join with Democrats to fund all agencies except ICE and Border Patrol, including the TSA. Negotiations would continue over deportation changes.
Reports suggest that an immigration compromise may be within reach. But if Democrats’ demands remain unreasonable, Cruz advocates that Republicans use the reconciliation process a second time to fund immigration enforcement. That would allow Senate Republicans to bypass the filibuster and pass the funding bill on a party-line vote — without any policy riders. They could also use it as a vehicle to adequately fund defense.
A concern with this strategy is that it could prevent Republicans from passing another reconciliation bill later this year to further reform taxes and spending. Yet lawmakers acknowledge that such a large legislative push would be an uphill climb, and President Trump has said there is no need for a second bill. The truth is that, after the One Big Beautiful Bill passed, there was almost no chance that Republicans would take up reconciliation again. Funding immigration agencies without Democratic support is likely the last chance to put the process to use before the midterms.
There is no reason for airport security to be disrupted indefinitely because of a dispute over immigration policy. Funding the majority of DHS would end the shutdown’s worst pain point. Meanwhile, ICE and CBP can remain functionally funded thanks to last year’s reconciliation bill until they receive regular appropriations. To help out federal workers, travelers, and their own political prospects, Republicans should get this deal done.
Post a Comment