President Donald Trump on Friday directed the Department of Homeland Security to pay all of its employees amid a record-long shutdown at DHS that's lasted nearly 50 days.
The presidential memo authorizes paychecks for workers who have gone without pay since DHS funding stopped on Feb. 14.
"More than 35,000 employees, including Coast Guard civilians, Federal Emergency Management Agency employees helping to prepare the Nation for disaster response, and cybersecurity professionals at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have gone without a paycheck for nearly 2 months because of congressional Democrats," Trump wrote in the memo, a day after indicating he would take action.
Trump has repeatedly blamed the partial government shutdown on Democrats, who are demanding significant changes to immigration enforcement tactics before lending their support to legislation that would fully fund DHS.
The president signed a similar memo last week that directed DHS to pay TSA workers, who had also gone without paychecks, as passengers endured significant delays at airports across the country. Those funds starting hitting employees' bank accounts this week.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have received funding during the shutdown with money from Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” which he signed into law last year.
In Friday’s memo, Trump argued that the new payments are justified because the ongoing shutdown constitutes “an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” and that “thousands of DHS employees who are performing their critical public safety responsibilities are struggling to make ends meet and provide for their families.”
He directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to “use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS.” Trump said that when full funding is eventually approved by Congress, DHS should make adjustments to internal accounts to ensure overall operations continue as planned.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., this week announced a plan to end the shutdown that involves a bipartisan bill already passed by the Senate that would fund DHS minus ICE and CBP. The Senate passed that bill again on Thursday but the House, where GOP leaders previously rejected the measure, has not taken it up yet.
Both chambers return to Washington the week of April 13.
Republicans say they can later fund ICE and CBP through a legislative process that removes the need for any Democratic support in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance most bills. Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage in the Senate.
