Trump Will Sign EO to Pay TSA Agents During Partial Shutdown
President Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers during the partial shutdown affecting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) functionality.
The president released his ad via Truth Social, accusing Democrats of siding with “criminal illegal aliens” over the American people by failing to enforce immigration law.
“They nearly destroyed our country, letting in 25 million people from prisons, mental institutions and asylums for the insane, drug traffickers and thousands of assassins, many of whom killed more than one person,” the president said.
“I will sign an order directing Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to immediately pay our TSA agents to deal with this emergency and quickly end the Democratic chaos at the airports,” Trump added later. “It’s not an easy thing to do, but I’m going to do it! I want to thank our hard-working TSA agents and ICE for the incredible help they’ve given us at the airports.”
The agency was closed for 41 days, leading to hour-long waits at security checks at airports across the country. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate will hold an “open vote on a broader DHS funding bill, but it’s unclear whether it will pass,” according to The Hill.
“Republican sources in the Senate told The Hill that they expect the White House to take steps to address massive airport security lines if Democrats refuse to accept the latest concessions aimed at ensuring that any money earmarked for the Homeland Security appropriations bill does not go toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation operations,” the outlet noted.
