US Government & Policy — 2026-03-28
DHS Shutdown Reaches Day 42 as House and Senate Pass Competing Funding Bills
The DHS partial shutdown reached 42 days, the longest on record, after the House and Senate passed competing funding bills. The Senate approved a bipartisan plan funding all DHS except ICE and parts of CBP in a 2 AM voice vote. Hours later, House Republicans rejected that deal 213-203 and instead passed an 8-week full DHS continuing resolution that Senate Democrats declared dead on arrival. Trump signed a separate executive order to pay TSA employees amid growing airport delays.
Analysis
Prior cycle reported 460 TSA officers lost and 4+ hour wait times. The Senate voice vote at 2 AM followed by the House counter-vote hours later demonstrates complete legislative deadlock. Trump's TSA pay order is an executive workaround that does not resolve the underlying funding dispute and leaves non-TSA DHS components, including CISA cyber operations, still unfunded during peak Iranian cyber threat activity.
Prior cycle reported 460 TSA officers lost and 4+ hour wait times. The Senate voice vote at 2 AM followed by the House counter-vote hours later demonstrates complete legislative deadlock. Trump's TSA pay order is an executive workaround that does not resolve the underlying funding dispute and leaves non-TSA DHS components, including CISA cyber operations, still unfunded during peak Iranian cyber threat activity.
2 sources
- Trump signs order to pay TSA employees amid shutdown standoff -
Federal News Network - House opts for stopgap funding as DHS standoff deepens -
Roll Call