Speaker Johnson pressures Schumer as DHS shutdown chaos hits major airports
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is increasing pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats in the upper chamber as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown enters a sixth week with no end in sight.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are set to vote Thursday on two bills aimed at embarrassing Democrats in the event of a shutdown, Fox News Digital has learned.
Johnson will have the House vote for the third time on funding DHS through the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The bill is based on a bipartisan agreement reached earlier this year, but Democrats overwhelmingly abandoned it to protest President Donald Trump’s strategy to crack down on illegal immigration.
The second measure is a non-binding resolution led by Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., expressing support for all agencies under DHS jurisdiction.
DHS SHUTDOWN TIE FOR SECOND LONGEST EVER AS DEMS BLOCKS FUNDING AGAIN AMID AIRPORT CHAOS AND TERRORISM CONCERNS
President Mike Johnson is putting pressure on Senate Democrats with two votes related to shutting down DHS. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo; Allison Robbert/AP Photo)
This comes as the DHS shutdown, now in its 38th day, is wreaking havoc on air travelers across the country. Major airports in Houston, New Orleans, New York and other areas are experiencing hours-long delays caused by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortages, with dozens of TSA agents calling out of work due to missed paychecks due to the shutdown.
TSA agents are set to miss pay this Friday, the second full pay period missed since the ongoing shutdown.
The TSA is one of several agencies that operate under the DHS umbrella, along with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among others.
EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO HOLD HEARING ON RISKS OF DHS CLOSING AMID TRAVEL INCREASE
“Anyone who waits for hours just to miss their flight won’t soon forget, and Republicans will continue to remind Americans that it’s Democrats who are putting their safety at risk just to protect criminal illegal aliens,” a House Republican aide told Fox News Digital on Monday.
“Democrats’ problem with their latest lockdown is that they are harming American citizens in an effort to protect illegal criminals and reopen our border, as evidenced by their own comments and the bills they are proposing to defund Customs and Border Patrol.”
Travelers wait in long security lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in March 2026. (Lekan Oyekanmi/AP Photo)
Negotiations over DHS funding have stalled, with Republicans dismissing Democrats’ key demands for ICE and CBP reforms — specifically requiring judicial warrants for immigration operations and banning agents from wearing face masks — as failure.
Trump also recently put a damper on negotiations by demanding that Republicans not accept any offers from Democrats until left-wing lawmakers agree to advance an unrelated election integrity measure called the SAVE America Act.
In the Senate, at least a handful of Democrats are needed to overcome a filibuster and advance any DHS funding legislation.
The House, which operates by a simple majority, has twice passed the initial DHS funding bill from congressional negotiators — and will likely do so a third time on Thursday.
The third iteration of the bill is being led by Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
“This standoff has gone on long enough,” Ciscomani told Fox News Digital on Monday. “The men and women who keep our country safe here at home are an essential part of our national security: they must be paid, now. These professionals should never be caught in the middle of political games, and yet that is exactly what happened. It’s shameful.
The United States Capitol building is seen in Washington, DC, United States on December 2, 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The nonbinding resolution honoring DHS is also likely to pass, but it’s unclear how much Democratic support it would get.
“Instead of joining the bipartisan majority in favor of fully funding DHS, including common-sense reforms like body cameras and de-escalation training, Democratic leaders are afraid of the radical ‘Defund ICE’ movement and are unwilling to compromise to protect the American people,” Mackenzie told Fox News Digital. “This situation is unacceptable and must end immediately.”
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Democrats tried to pass legislation to fund DHS, except for agencies linked to Trump’s immigration crackdown, efforts that were rejected by the Republican Party.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have both argued that ICE’s controversial operations in Minneapolis and other blue cities are reason enough to block any proposals to fund new immigration operations.
