President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will soon sign an emergency order to pay Department of Homeland Security employees who have worked without pay since mid-February. He said the move comes as Congress remains deadlocked over funding.
“I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The funding lapse has left thousands of DHS workers without pay for nearly seven weeks, Reuters reported.
The United States Senate cleared the way early Thursday for the United States House of Representatives to pass a funding bill through Sept. 30. The House met later in the day but did not vote on the measure.
Officials said tens of thousands of civilian employees at agencies including the United States Coast Guard, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency have not been paid since February. About 80,000 sworn law enforcement personnel, including Secret Service agents and immigration officers, have continued to receive pay.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the president’s planned action. He said it will ensure DHS employees receive compensation during the funding impasse.
The White House said in a memo that the administration can use funds from a previously approved budget and tax package to pay workers through executive action. Officials said additional steps may be taken if the funding standoff continues.
Earlier this week, about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers began receiving pay after Trump signed a separate order. The move came as staffing shortages led to disruptions at airports nationwide.
Officials said daily absences of 10% or more among TSA workers contributed to long security lines and operational challenges. The situation escalated as negotiations in Congress stalled.
Democrats in Congress have withheld support for DHS funding while seeking changes to immigration enforcement policies. The dispute follows a shooting incident in Minneapolis involving federal agents that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens.
Republican leaders in the House rejected a bipartisan Senate proposal to resolve the funding dispute. Democrats have proposed funding TSA separately while continuing negotiations over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
President Donald Trump last month said he opposes a Senate-passed funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, arguing it fails to fully fund key immigration enforcement agencies. The dispute comes as a partial shutdown of the department stretches into its sixth week.
Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News that the legislation “wasn’t appropriate” because it does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. He said any funding measure must fully support law enforcement operations tied to border security, The Hill reported.
“Well, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t appropriate. Now what they should do is they should terminate the filibuster,” Trump said in the interview with reporter Jacqui Heinrich.
“In my opinion, you can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE. You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement,” Trump said. “This whole thing is about the Democrats wanting to have open borders, no ICE, no Border Patrol.”
Later Friday, Trump reiterated his position to reporters while traveling to Miami. He said he understood the positions of congressional leaders but maintained that the department must be fully funded.
“So I understand [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune, and I understand [Speaker] Mike Johnson,” Trump said. “They want to be sure that people aren’t coming into our country like they have for the last four years.”