Trump directs DHS to pay TSA workers as shutdown fight drags on

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s directing the Department of Homeland Security to cover the salaries of airport transportation security officers who are going without pay because of a budget standoff with Congress.

Trump said in a social media post that he would sign an executive order to restore the pay of workers for the Transportation Security Administration to end the “chaos” that has gripped some airports during the busy spring break travel season.

“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” he said.

Air travel has been slowed in part because TSA workers have quit or called out sick during the standoff, which came as Democrats have pressed for changes at DHS in response to the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents during immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.

TSA agents were due to miss another full paycheck at the end of the week.

The Trump administration has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to some airports to help manage the long lines.

DHS has been shut down since mid-February because of the standoff. A deal sketched out on Monday with the administration collapsed and senators in both parties have yet to find a way past the impasse.

“We've had the vote open for five hours to give the Democrats an opportunity to come to the table. They have not. And now time is up.” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 2 Senate GOP leader.

The idea to unilaterally fund TSA workers’ salaries was discussed earlier in the day among Senate Republicans, according to two people familiar with the discussions granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

Senate Democrats pushed back on Republicans’ characterization that they had walked away from the negotiating table.

“I'm not going to talk about the substance of the negotiation, but I will just say that we have been talking all day. Staff has been talking all day on the floor, via text, in person. So it's just not true that we're not in a negotiation,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said. “It may be that one person or the other has lost patience, and you know that's that's, that would be too bad, but we're still talking.”

“We've made progress today,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. “We'll obviously be willing to make more progress, but it's up to the people that run this place as to whether they want to get a deal done or not.”

Jonathan Miller, Andres Picon, Jordain Carney and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.