Congress searches for shutdown off-ramp as DHS employees start missing pay

Republicans are renewing their push to fully fund and reopen the Homeland Security Department, suggesting the war the United States launched against Iran over the weekend has heightened the need to end the single-agency shutdown that entered its third week on Monday. 

House Republicans will bring up another vote on a DHS appropriations bill this week, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., announced, saying it was dangerous for Democrats to continue holding up the funding due to concerns over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. 

The legislation would “end the DHS shutdown so we can ensure agencies can protect America during this dangerous time,” Scalise said, noting the FBI has warned of an elevated threat of terrorist activity domestically. 

The House previously approved a spending measure for DHS for fiscal 2026, but the bill has languished in the Senate as Democrats and the White House continue to negotiate over potential reforms at the department. Republicans are hoping to ramp up pressure on Democrats to act by re-voting on the bill in the wake of the attacks on Iran. Lawmakers in the party said on social media and in other appearances in the days since President Trump started the war that it has become irresponsible to continue to leave DHS unfunded. 

Most of the department’s employees have continued to work during the shutdown, with only about 8% of the workforce home on furlough. Many employees, such as law enforcement and other personnel at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, are receiving their normal paychecks thanks to funding Congress provided in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Others, such as Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency workers, have started to receive partial paychecks or will do so this week. The U.S. Coast Guard is paying its uniformed personnel on time, but civilians will face delayed pay.

DHS workers have warned that they are facing strains from loans they are still repaying and other burdens they incurred during the record-setting 43-day shutdown last fall. The American Federation of Government Employees has called for Congress to pass legislation to pay all DHS employees on time, but did not demand that lawmakers end the shutdown itself. 

“These essential workers have already endured a 43-day government shutdown last fall and a four-day shutdown earlier this year and have continued to serve the American people with pride,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said. “AFGE members are tired of being forced on this roller coaster every time their elected officials fail to do their jobs.”

A rise in TSA employees calling out from work due to delayed pay has historically served as a turning point in government shutdowns, though in this case there is no similar risk from the fully funded Federal Aviation Administration.  

DHS officials told lawmakers prior to the shutdown that a funding lapse would hurt recruiting, damage morale and stymie long-term planning and projects. The Coast Guard has curtailed training and grounded some aircraft, while the TSA’s leaders have warned of delays at airports. FEMA officials have said the agency is struggling to make payments for long-term recovery efforts, while the Secret Service has paused reforms that were previously underway.

Lawmakers had reached a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS before department personnel fatally shot Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs Department nurse protesting Immigration and Customs and Enforcement actions in Minnesota, and Democrats made new demands to change the department’s policies. After weeks of back and forth in which the two sides remained far apart, the White House late last week issued a new set of proposals to Democrats in hopes of seeking a compromise. Congressional leaders said they were reviewing it. 

The House Rules Committee will vote to tee up the DHS funding bill on Tuesday, with a vote on the floor expected Thursday.