TSA miss first paycheck of shutdown as Senate bickers over DHS funding
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents walk through Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on March 9, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | AFP | Getty Images
The debate over ending the shutdown of the Department of Immigration and Homeland Security spilled into the Senate chamber late Wednesday as Transportation Security Administration agents were among the DHS employees who will miss their first paychecks this week.
Airports have recently collapsed due to funding shortfalls; Travelers are forced to wait in long lines at security checkpoints, and agencies are calling for layoffs rather than working without pay.
The rhetorical battle, which resulted in no change in the Senate, came weeks before the DHS shutdown, which began on February 14. Following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Democrats are demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement as a condition of funding the agency. Republicans, backed by President Donald Trump, are not interested in policy changes as a condition of funding the agency.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., proposes funding only the TSA, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, while lawmakers continue to debate funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, subordinate agencies that handle immigration enforcement.
“As for the rest of DHS, which does important work to keep Americans safe, like FEMA, the Coast Guard, TSA, Democrats are here trying to fund those agencies — while negotiations continue on ICE and Border Patrol,” said Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. he said.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security subpanel, blocked Murray’s measure.
Britt then offered to fund DHS for two weeks, but Murray later blocked it.
“The people who send us here expect more,” Britt said. “As we talk about the best path forward, we want this opportunity to continue to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
Republicans are wary of agreeing to extensions of all DHS except Border Patrol and ICE, fearing that funding packages for those agencies may never be completed because Democratic votes are needed to pass the legislation due to narrow majorities in the Senate. Democrats argue that the Border Patrol and ICE are currently funded through Republicans’ tax cut and spending mega-bill passed last year, and that they will not accept more funding for those agencies without changes to immigration enforcement practices.
Failure of either proposal to move forward effectively ensures that the agency’s employees will miss out on their first paycheck this week. Average TSA agent in Washington Earns just under $50,000 annuallyAccording to ZipRecruiter.
People wait in long TSA lines as a partial government shutdown continues for several weeks at airports such as Chicago O’Hare in Chicago, IL, United States, on March 9, 2026
Peter Zay/ | Anatolia | Getty Images
Dozens of senators took to the floor Wednesday to publicly debate the dueling measures.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) asked lawmakers to support the measure and called for continued negotiations.
“If you’re sincere about reaching an agreement, I don’t see why anyone would object to that,” Thune said.
Murray said the Republicans’ offer “does not meet this moment in the long run.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., also took to the floor and said, “We’re in a terrible predicament here.”
But the Senate failed to reach any resolution on continuing to fund DHS and pay its employees.
