GOP, Democrats Find One Thing They Agree On During DHS Shutdown: King Charles Should Address Congress

Congressional leaders invited King Charles III to address Congress on Wednesday, while failing to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Leaders of the House and Senate invited the king to address a joint meeting of Congress on April 28. The move comes as DHS has been closed for 46 days, causing a significant shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents and hampering Americans’ travel schedules.

“On behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we are honored to invite you to speak at a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, April 28, 2026,” the letter said. “The relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom has become one of the most important partnerships in modern history. This close relationship is anchored not only in shared interests, but – as Queen Elizabeth II declared at a joint meeting of Congress in 1991 – in a shared ‘spirit of democracy’ and a commitment to the fundamental values ​​of individual liberty, the consent of the governed, and the rule of law.”

As we announced last week, King Charles III will address a joint session on April 28. pic.twitter.com/egagjrLNfE

-Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 1, 2026

Congress went on vacation for two weeks during the shutdown and is not expected to return until April 13. Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary said On Monday, President Donald Trump called on Congress to end its recess and reconvene to reopen DHS.

The partial close began on February 14 as Senate Democrats released a list of requests on immigration reforms, which included banning ICE agents from racial profiling and wearing masks. These requests were a response to immigration enforcement actions. murders by Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The shutdown brought hundreds of TSA agents to to leave after working for weeks without pay. Trump signed an executive order Friday requiring TSA agents to be paid for the duration of the shutdown. It also deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to major airports to assist TSA agents.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available free to any legitimate news publisher capable of delivering a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and DCNF affiliation. For questions about our guidelines or our partnership, please contact licenses@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.