DHS shutdown hits day 36 as TSA workers continue going without pay
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Senate Republicans blocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s attempt to pay only Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees while the Homeland Security shutdown continues.
Despite being in the minority and not controlling the Senate floor, Schumer used an arcane tactic to force a procedural vote to allow the Senate to pass the bill in Democrats’ push to change the narrative on the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.
“It is unacceptable for workers, passengers and entire airports to be taken hostage during political games,” Schumer said in his speech on the Senate floor. he said. “But that’s what Republicans are doing. Saying we’re only going to pay TSA workers if it’s added to a bill funding ICE with no reform is unacceptable, but that’s what Republicans are doing.”
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) used a rarely used procedural tactic to force pay TSA workers; Senate Republicans have blocked that in their quest to fully reopen DHS. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
The shutdown entered its 36th day on Saturday, as the ongoing partial shutdown builds towards last year’s record-breaking full government shutdown. Schumer’s failed move comes in the wake of increased wait times at airports as thousands of TSA agents go without pay.
Senate Democrats have delved deeper into their demands for tough reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), so far refusing to reopen the agency or temporarily extend funding to end the shutdown until they get their way.
Senate Republicans and the White House offered Democrats a new compromise Friday night, following the release earlier this week of an open letter from the administration on various reforms to immigration operations. The letter led to two consecutive meetings on Capitol Hill with Republicans, Democrats and administration officials.
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Travelers wait in line at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Whether they will accept or oppose this offer is up in the air for now. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who was at the meeting, said she hoped another meeting would be held soon.
“It’s up to them, but I hope so,” Britt said.
Still, Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to fully reopen the agency on Friday. In the background, there have been several attempts by Senate Democrats to move forward with standalone funding bills to open up parts of DHS outside of immigration enforcement, like Schumer’s gambit.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) speaks at a Senate Republicans’ press conference in the Ohio Clock Corridor at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Time is also running out for lawmakers to find middle ground on reopening the agency, given that they will leave Washington, D.C., for a two-week recess at the end of next week.
At a news conference earlier Saturday, Senate Majority Leader R.S.D. told Fox News Digital that “if we leave town next week without funding for the Department of Homeland Security, it’s going to be very, very difficult to explain.”
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“At some point Democrats are going to be held accountable for this,” Thune said.
“I know they think their position is ‘very calm, very calm,’ as one of their leaders described it,” he continued. “Well, I’m telling you something, the people sitting in queues at airports right now are not seeing the situation as calm. This needs to be resolved.”
