The Trump administration has announced that TSA employees will begin receiving paychecks on Monday. While this is positive news, the reality may mirror past government shutdowns where the Executive Branch lacked funds to sustain more than one pay period for TSA staff.
Meanwhile, the Senate reached an agreement and passed a bill to finance all sections of the DHS except for ICE and border patrol.
House Republicans were simply expected to approve this without complication before their departure.
However, under the influence of Donald Trump and Mike Johnson, the House Republicans chose a different path, opting to disrupt the process and instead urge the Senate to approve a 60-day Continuing Resolution (CR).
This suggestion faces a major hurdle, as the Senate has already adjourned for a two-week Easter recess.
What prompted the House Republicans to make such a move?
Speaker Mike Johnson sheds light on the situation:
 The strategy employed last night is absurd. I find it hard to believe that every Senate Republican thoroughly reviewed the bill’s language. I want to highlight a concerning excerpt from section four, on page two of the bill.
Here is an actual excerpt from the bill. It states, quote, the content listed under the headings of this bill concerning US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Security Operations, under the heading of US Customs and Border Patrol and Protection, shall be nullified for the purposes of this act.
The amounts indicated in the final bill under Border Security Operations, and under the heading US Customs and Border Protection, as well as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security, shall be zero. We refuse to accept this, and I find it unacceptable that the Democrats would engineer a negotiation at 3 a.m. and impose this on the American public, only to leave for their holiday expecting compliance.
House Republicans are pushing for a 60-day CR to secure funding for ICE and border patrol; however, this initiative stems from Trump rather than the House Republicans themselves.
Johnson’s remarks contain subtle hints that this plan originates from Trump.
