DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 57 (Thursday, March 26, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 57 (Thursday, March 26, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1690-S1691] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, President Trump recently announced that he has found a way to provide relief for tens of thousands of TSA officers currently working without pay. And thanks to his actions, the money to pay them will start flowing immediately. I am grateful--and I suspect that every American traveler will be grateful--that the President has found a way to address the terrible situation at U.S. airports and finally give TSA officers the pay that they are owed. But President Trump should never have had to step in to rescue TSA workers and U.S. air travelers. We are here because, thanks to Democrats' determined refusal to reach an agreement, there will be no Homeland Security funding bill this year. Instead, just a few minutes ago, Republicans funded the Department of Homeland Security piecemeal. This is not the way to fund the Department, but we are out of time for the critical responsibilities and tens of thousands of workers currently going without pay. And since Democrats have made fiscal year 2026 the year they choose to repudiate one of their most basic responsibilities as Members of Congress--to fund the government--this is what we now have been reduced to. Mr. President, 84 days--84 days--nearly half of this fiscal year so far the government has been shut down in whole or in part by Senate Democrats. And for what? For what? In October, Democrats shut down the entire Federal Government for a recordbreaking 43 days because they couldn't bring themselves to accept a clean, nonpartisan funding extension. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down now for an additional 41 days--since mid-February--because Democrats couldn't take yes for an answer. They wanted reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Republicans offered to give that to them. The White House made offer after offer, putting forward a robust list of additional reforms; and Democrats just kept moving the goalpost. And today, they just walked away; and so here we are. Democrats are rejecting funding for deporting criminal illegal aliens--criminals guilty of assault, murders, sexual predators. They are rejecting funding for border security, drug interdiction. They are denying us the ability to fund the DHS arm that investigates transnational criminal organizations, narcotics smuggling, and human traffickers. [[Page S1691]] I thought Democrats had learned their lessons on defunding law enforcement, but I guess we are right back there. Did they think that defunding law enforcement will be a winning issue for them in November? If I were Democrats, I might think twice before I assumed that. We could be standing here right now passing a funding bill with a list of reforms if Democrats had made the smallest effort to actually reach an agreement, but they didn't because it is now clear to everyone Democrats didn't actually want a solution. They wanted an issue: politics over policy, self-interest over reform, pandering to their base over actually solving a problem. It is an appalling commentary on the state of the Democratic Party. Democrats got their issue, I guess. And in the process, they are irreparably damaging the appropriations process and this institution. I hope they are satisfied. I yield the floor. ____________________