President Donald Trump announced on his social media account Thursday that he will sign an executive order directing newly sworn-in Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay Transportation Security Administration officers immediately, calling the ongoing DHS shutdown an “Emergency Situation.”
At a White House Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Trump warned he might take “drastic measures” unless the shutdown ends soon. It is not clear what legal authority the president plans to invoke; Congress holds the “power of the purse” and typically controls federal funding decisions.
A senior administration official said TSA officers would be paid using money already approved by Congress through the legislation dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) that Trump signed last summer. “Money provided by President Trump’s OBBB will be used to pay TSA,” the official said.
The administration pointed to precedent from the last government shutdown, when funds were shifted to keep some payments flowing. The administration then directed the Defense Department to use “all available funds” to pay roughly 2 million service members; the Pentagon later said about $8 billion came from the department’s research, development and testing budget and that the funds were “unobligated” from the prior fiscal year. Members of the Coast Guard, which falls under DHS, also received pay during that shutdown, and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said those funds came from the One Big Beautiful Bill.
It remains unclear whether the forthcoming order will produce a one-time payment, when TSA officers would actually receive money, or what the funds were originally intended for.
The announcement came as lawmakers continued negotiations over DHS funding on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that Democrats had been given Republicans’ “last and final” offer to reopen DHS as Congress prepared to leave for a two-week recess on Friday. A test vote on the Senate floor failed, 53-47, short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso said, “We’ve given the Democrats the opportunity to come to the table. They have not. And now, time is up.”
Democrats characterized talks as ongoing. “Our legislative director is literally meeting and passing paper back and forth as we speak,” Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz told reporters. “It’s just not true that we’re not in negotiation. It may be that that one person or the other has lost patience, and you know, that would be too bad, but we’re still talking.”
ABC News reporter Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.