Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents walk through Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on March 9, 2026.
Aaron Schwartz | AFP | Getty Images
A debate over immigration and ending the Department of Homeland Security shutdown spilled over onto the Senate floor late Wednesday, as Transportation Security Administration agents are among the DHS employees who will miss their first full paychecks this week.
Airports have recently buckled under the funding gap, with travelers suffering through long lines at security checkpoints as agents call out of work rather than toil without pay.
The rhetorical battle on the Senate floor that resulted in no changes came weeks into a shutdown at DHS that began Feb. 14. Democrats are demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement as a condition for funding the agency, after two U.S. citizens were shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Republicans — backed by President Donald Trump — are not interested in policy changes as a condition of funding the agency.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., proposed funding only the TSA, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, while lawmakers continue to debate funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the sub-agencies that deal with immigration enforcement.
“As for the rest of DHS that does important work to keep Americans safe like FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA, Democrats are here, we are trying to fund those agencies — while ICE and Border Patrol negotiations continue,” Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security subpanel, blocked Murray’s measure.
Britt then offered a proposal to fund DHS for two weeks, which Murray subsequently blocked.
“The people who sent us here expect more,” Britt said. “We would like that opportunity to continue funding the Department of Homeland Security in its entirety, while we have a conversation about the best pathway to move forward.”
Republicans are wary of accepting an extension of all of DHS except Border Patrol and ICE, fearing that funding packages for those agencies will never reach completion because due to their narrow Senate majority, Democratic votes are required to move legislation through the chamber. Democrats argue Border Patrol and ICE are already funded through the Republican tax cut and spending megabill passed last year, and they will not accept more funding for those agencies without changes to immigration enforcement practices.
The lack of either proposal moving forward effectively ensures the agency’s employees will miss their first full paycheck this week. An average TSA agent in Washington makes just under $50,000 annually, according to ZipRecruiter.
People wait in long TSA lines as the partial government shutdown continues for several weeks at airports like Chicago O’Hare in Chicago, IL, United States on March 9, 2026
Peter Zay/ | Anadolu | Getty Images
Dozens of senators took to the floor on Wednesday to publicly debate the dueling measures.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., implored lawmakers to support the measure and urged continued negotiations.
“I don’t understand why anybody would object to that if you are sincere in trying to get a deal,” Thune said.
Murray said the Republican proposal “doesn’t do enough to meet this moment, not by a long-shot.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., also went to the floor and said “we’re in a terrible conundrum here.”
But the Senate came to no resolution to keep funding DHS and paying its employees.
