The U.S. Congress failed on Friday (27 March) to resolve a six-week funding impasse that has disrupted airports and left tens of thousands of federal workers without pay, raising fears of further travel chaos during the busy spring break period.
After a day of intense legislative deliberations, lawmakers remained deadlocked, unable to settle a dispute over immigration enforcement that has halted salaries for many of the 270,000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), even though most have continued working.
With no agreement in place, the White House said Donald Trump had declared an emergency, allowing airport screening officers to receive pay as early as Monday.
However, other DHS staff who have gone without wages since mid-February, including those handling emergency response and coastal defence, are expected to remain unpaid as lawmakers head out for a two-week recess.
The day began with a Senate vote in which lawmakers unanimously approved a bill to restore funding for most DHS operations while attempting to address the immigration enforcement dispute behind the standoff.
Democrats supported the bill because it excluded funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while Republicans backed it because it did not include the restrictions Democrats had sought on Trump’s hardline enforcement approach.
But the Republican-controlled House rejected that compromise, instead narrowly passing a stopgap measure to fund the entire DHS through late May, including immigration enforcement, a proposal Democrats had already ruled out.
"We've been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical homeland security functions, but we will not give a blank check to Trump's lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
It remains uncertain whether the Senate will consider the House bill, and if it does, Democrats are expected to block it.
The shutdown has already caused long queues at U.S. airports. Many of the 50,000 security officers affected have either called in sick or resigned. On Thursday, nearly 12% of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers did not report for duty, including more than a third at major hubs such as New York’s JFK, Baltimore, Houston’s two airports and Atlanta.
Significant disruptions and security delays stretching several hours were reported on Friday. Airline officials told Reuters the situation could deteriorate further over the weekend without clear assurances on how TSA staff would be paid.
The agency’s acting chief, Ha McNeill, said some officers have been sleeping in their cars to save fuel costs, while others have been selling blood or taking second jobs to get by.
Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers of Congress, used their limited leverage to block DHS funding following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.
They are seeking to curb Trump’s immigration enforcement push, which has led to more than half a million deportations and unrest in several U.S. cities.
Despite the shutdown, both ICE and Border Patrol continue to operate using separate funding approved under a sweeping tax and spending bill passed by Republicans last year.
Republicans have indicated they may seek additional funding for those agencies through a complex legislative process that could bypass Democratic opposition, though it remains unclear whether they can maintain party unity in an election year.
With limited power in Washington, Democrats have triggered two government shutdowns in the past six months. Neither has delivered their desired outcomes; they failed to secure expiring health subsidies last November and have now emerged from the latest standoff without an agreement on immigration enforcement.
Even so, the Trump administration has, for now, stepped back from the confrontational and at times violent tactics that sparked mass protests in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities.
Trump removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month. Her replacement, former Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, has signalled support for some Democratic proposals, including limiting agents’ ability to forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant.
Other proposals appear unlikely to move forward. Trump’s border chief, Tom Homan, said Democrats’ call for agents to operate without masks was a "nonstarter."
U.S. President Donald Trump has again said Iran is keen to reach a deal quickly, but a senior Iranian security official rejected the claim, saying ...
A drone hit a petrol station in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the...
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature&rs...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
U.S. Central Command said 101 commercial vessels have been redirected in the Strait of Hormuz, while oil prices rose more than three per cent amid fresh regional attacks and supply concerns.
A Russian strike on a farm warehouse in Pryluky, north-central Ukraine, has killed at least three people, local police said. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said an attack on a train near the Polish border was an attempt to intimidate Ukraine's allies.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
A drone hit a petrol station in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv early on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that there was also a strike on warehouse facilities in another part of the city.
University students in Mexico have held a vigil for a 21-year-old Spanish exchange student killed in the central state of Morelos, with authorities investigating her death as a possible feminicide.
Every day since a torrent of mud and rocks destroyed a Nepal-China border crossing high up in the Himalayas last month, Arushi Gupta's parents have called and messaged their missing daughter hoping she somehow survived.
Foreign ministers of Cambodia and Thailand delivered opening statements on Tuesday at the first meeting of a UN arbitration process to resolve a long-running maritime dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
A federal judge has halted a Trump administration immigration policy that would have significantly changed how long foreign students, exchange visitors and international journalists can remain in the United States.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment