Mike Johnson Mocked The ‘Partial’ DHS Fix, Now He May Have to Pass It As Uncertainty Looms Over TSA Paychecks

by | Apr 13, 2026 | General

Lawmakers return to Washington this week with the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown still unresolved and fresh questions hanging over whether DHS employees, including roughly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers, will keep getting paid if Congress fails to strike a deal.

Senate And House Left Town Split

The impasse followed a last-minute split before the Easter recess, when Senate Republicans advanced a bill to fund most of DHS while House Republicans rejected that approach and left town without a final agreement. Reuters has reported that the shutdown began in mid-February and that funding remains in limbo even after the Senate cleared the way for House action earlier this month.

Pressure to reopen the department had mounted as the lapse snarled airport operations nationwide. On March 26, President Donald Trump said he would order TSA officers paid, and Reuters later reported that he signed a broader April 3 directive extending back pay and benefits to all DHS employees affected by the shutdown.

Back Pay Helped Ease Airport Turmoil

Those moves eased some of the immediate political heat because TSA paychecks resumed, absentee rates fell, and airport lines began to improve after weeks of turmoil. But the relief may prove temporary as the administration has not clearly established how long the emergency funding can last, leaving uncertainty over future pay periods after eight weeks without regular DHS appropriations.

Before the recess, the strain had become impossible to ignore. DHS figures said that nearly 500 TSA officers quit during the shutdown and that absentee rates topped 10% nationally, with some major airports seeing much worse.

Republicans Search For A New Path

Republicans appeared to narrow some differences over the break. Reuters reported on April 2 that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had aligned behind a path that could let the House eventually pass the Senate-backed measure, though support inside the GOP remained uncertain.

Johnson had earlier mocked the Senate plan, but the emerging two-step strategy would separate ICE and Border Patrol funding from the rest of DHS, then use budget reconciliation later to move immigration and border money with a simple Senate majority and no Democratic filibuster. Trump has set June 1 as the deadline for Congress to send him that follow-up bill.

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