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Pressure Mounts to End Funding Shutdown03/26 06:03
Pressure is mounting on Congress to end the funding shutdown that's resulted
in travel disruptions, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures,
but lawmakers have yet to resolve the underlying issue of reining in President
Donald Trump's immigration enforcement operations.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pressure is mounting on Congress to end the funding
shutdown that's resulted in travel disruptions, missed paychecks and even
warnings of airport closures, but lawmakers have yet to resolve the underlying
issue of reining in President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement operations.
Senators are expected to vote Thursday on a Republican proposal that would
fund the Transportation Security Administration and much of the Department of
Homeland Security, except the enforcement and removal operations conducted by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But it's expected to fail.
Democrats argue the GOP plan does not go far enough at putting guardrails on
ICE, Customs and Border Protection and other federal officers who are engaged
in the Trump administration's immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths
of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis.
With Congress set to leave town by week's end for its own spring break
recess, calls are intensifying for an end to the 41-day stalemate that's put
the livelihoods of TSA officers at risk as they provide airport security
without pay.
"This is a dire situation," the acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill
testified at a House hearing Wednesday.
She described the multiple hardships facing unpaid TSA workers -- piling up
bills and eviction notices, even plasma donations to make ends meet -- and
warned of potential airport closures if more employees refuse to come to work.
Daily callout rates have increased to 11% nationwide.
"At this point, we have to look at all options on the table," she said. "And
that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which
airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as
our callout rates increase."
Trump stays out of the fray
The Republican president has largely stayed out of the public debate over
the path his party should take to end the standoff. Trump initially signed off
on the plan the GOP senators brought to him late Monday, but on Tuesday he said
he wouldn't be happy with any deal.
Trump didn't directly address the status of negotiations late Wednesday
evening during an annual fundraising dinner for the House Republicans' campaign
committee as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., works to keep majority control of the
chamber in the November midterm elections.
But Trump criticized Democrats for refusing to settle their demands on
immigration changes.
The GOP's big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled
billions to the Department of Homeland Security, including $75 billion for ICE
operations, ensuring the money is flowing for his immigration and deportation
agenda even with the routine department funding shutdown. ICE and other
immigration officers are still being paid.
The situation is partly of Trump's making, a strategy the president put in
place last fall, when he cut a deal with Democrats to end a previous federal
shutdown. At that time, Trump agreed to fund the federal government, except for
Homeland Security, which was then put on temporary funding that has expired.
A stopgap measure
While the Republican offer added one new restraint on immigration officers,
funding the use of body cameras that had previously been agreed to, it excluded
other policies that Democrats have demanded -- such as that federal agents wear
identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids
around schools, churches or other sensitive places.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see
real changes. "We've been talking about ICE reforms from day one," he said.
Democrats had been in several days of talks with the White House, including
with border czar Tom Homan, that appeared to be making progress toward a deal.
The White House presented its own offer with several items Democrats had been
demanding, including officer IDs and training.
But those negotiations broke down over the weekend.
Republicans say Democrats are putting the country at risk. They say the
Trump administration has already made strides to meet Democrats' demands and
has shown a new approach to its immigration operations, swearing in Markwayne
Mullin as the new Homeland Security secretary to replace Kristi Noem.
"They know this is crazy," Johnson said.
But conservative Republicans also panned the proposal, demanding full
funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from GOP
leaders that they would address Trump's proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a
subsequent legislative package.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said late Wednesday that if Democrats put
a "more realistic offer on the table, we'll be back in business."
Asked if Congress would consider a stopgap measure to temporarily fund the
department, Thune said: "We'll see."
Airport lines grow as TSA workers endure hardships
McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, told lawmakers that multiple airports
are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates and more than 480
transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown.
She cited the growing financial strain on the TSA workforce.
"Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking
on second jobs to make ends meet, all while being expected to perform at the
highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public," she said.
McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation's airports have
experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the
shutdown began.
"This is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated," McNeill said.
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