Travel disruptions deepened Tuesday as senators tried to salvage a proposal that could end the Homeland Security shutdown, with airport security and staffing problems spreading into major travel hubs. The negotiations, pressed by a sense of urgency as spring travel crowds build, centered on funding most of the department while leaving out one major ICE component: immigration enforcement and removal operations that have been at the heart of the standoff.
The impact has been visible for travelers. Long TSA security lines prompted instructions in cities including Houston, Atlanta and the Baltimore/Washington area to arrive hours before flights. Airports also faced staffing strain since routine Homeland Security funding was halted in mid-February, ahead of the busy spring season, and DHS said nearly 11% of TSA workers scheduled to report Monday—more than 3,200—missed work. DHS also said at least 458 TSA workers have quit since the shutdown began.
Acting TSA administrator Ha McNeill said multiple airports were experiencing call-out rates above 40%, according to prepared remarks she planned to deliver to the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday. She was also expected to describe the personal toll on TSA workers, who she said are “running out of options to keep a roof over their head and put food on the table.” The article described TSA disruptions as increasingly unpredictable, with swelling crowds in major hubs and travelers unable to check online TSA wait times at some airports Tuesday morning.
Immigration enforcement operations remained part of the dispute even as senators sought a deal that would address airport-related funding. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were seen in terminals, including at Philadelphia International Airport, where a protester held a sign criticizing ICE at one of the checkpoints. In Houston, passengers spent hours moving through security lines that stretched across multiple floors, as the shutdown continued to distort routine airport processing.
As lawmakers pursued an agreement, the outlines of the proposal emerged after a group of Republican senators met with President Donald Trump at the White House late Monday. The plan would fund most of Homeland Security but would exclude “one main part of ICE,” according to the AP report—specifically the enforcement and removal operations central to Trump’s deportation agenda. Under the proposal, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations would be funded, and Customs and Border Protection would also be funded. The plan would include money for officers to wear body cameras, but it would offer few other restraints.
Even amid Republican momentum, the two parties remained far apart on immigration enforcement terms. Democrats panned the offer as insufficient, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who said, “We need strong, strong reforms and we need to rein in ICE,” and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said his party members insist on “bold” changes to ICE. The AP report also said Democrats were refusing to fund the department without restraints on Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations after federal agents killed two citizens in Minneapolis.
Republicans argued the package could provide a path out of the shutdown while carving away immigration-enforcement funding from airport disruption. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “The time to end this is now.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., met with Trump and said, “It’s not a perfect deal but I think it works,” adding that it could end “this madness” for travelers waiting in long lines. The proposal drew a response of cautious openness from the White House, which stressed conversations were ongoing but said an agreement that split off immigration-enforcement funding—while addressing Trump’s elections bill separately—“seems to be acceptable.”
President Donald Trump, however, did not sound fully committed. At an event at the White House swearing in his new Homeland Security Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, Trump said, “I think any deal they make, I’m pretty much not happy with it.” The AP account said Democrats and Republicans also differed over whether earlier changes floated by the White House—such as bans on immigration enforcement at schools, churches and hospitals—would be part of any package. A person granted anonymity to discuss the details said the plan did not include a mandate requiring immigration officers to wear identification or other changes that had been floated earlier.
The standoff has intensified under political pressure inside Washington, and it has left TSA workers facing uncertainty that is also affecting travelers. The AP report described Homeland Security as an agency created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but increasingly tied to Trump’s mass deportation agenda, with its goal of removing 1 million immigrants this year. Under mounting public outcry over immigration operations, Trump ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and senators confirmed Mullin—aligned with Trump’s agenda—as her replacement. Mullin told senators during his confirmation hearing that he supported another key Democratic demand, ensuring a judge signs off on warrants for immigration officers searching people’s homes rather than relying on administrative warrants issued by the department.
In another sign that the shutdown’s disruption reaches beyond airports themselves, Delta Air Lines confirmed it was suspending its specialty services for members of Congress amid the shutdown, the AP report said. The suspension meant those who fly with the carrier would be treated like other passengers based on their SkyMiles status. As the negotiations pressed on Tuesday, the White House and Senate leaders portrayed the talks as moving toward a political exit from the standoff—while Democrats continued to demand stronger limits on ICE enforcement and removal operations.