Democratic Rep. Greg Casar and Republican Sen. John Cornyn got into a confrontation at an Austin, Texas, airport over the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.
The shutdown has left DHS without full funding, impacting agencies like the Transportation Security Administration. About 61,000 TSA workers are not getting paid; some are taking side jobs or calling out sick, producing significant delays at airports. CEOs of 10 U.S. airlines urged Congress to pass a proposal to pay the affected federal workers.
At the Austin airport, Casar approached Cornyn and tried to speak about funding for the TSA. Video shows the exchange escalating into a heated back-and-forth. Cornyn challenged Democrats broadly, saying, “Why don’t you tell the Democrats to vote to pay these poor people?” Casar pushed to talk about a bipartisan bill to fund just the TSA. Cornyn replied by defending funding for other DHS components and raising concerns about local safety on Sixth Street, asking, “Do you want those to continue?” Casar attempted to press the point about a narrowly tailored bill to fund TSA workers; Cornyn declined to discuss it there.
CBS News congressional reporter Taurean Small noted that informal confrontations like the airport encounter mirror larger stalemates on Capitol Hill. Democrats have repeatedly offered measures to fund parts of DHS — for example, proposals to fund agencies outside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — but Republicans have resisted, arguing they must preserve leverage to win reforms they seek. Republicans point out they previously passed a comprehensive measure funding ICE and CBP through 2029, and they view segmented funding efforts as losing leverage.
Negotiations remain stalled. Republicans have indicated they will continue to bring DHS funding bills back to the floor, while Democrats have shown reluctance to accept major concessions without guaranteed reforms. The impasse leaves affected federal workers in limbo and travelers facing delays as airline and industry leaders press Congress for a resolution.