The partial US government shutdown has become the longest in American history, as lawmakers in Washington continue to fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
On Sunday, the shutdown reached 44 days, surpassing the previous longest funding lapse, which ended in November 2025.
The current impasse has led to chaos at airports, due to a shortage of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at security checkpoints as they go without pay cheques.
White House border czar Tom Homan said on Sunday TSA agents should start receiving pay early next week after President Donald Trump signed an order attempting to free up cash.
It is unclear, though, whether Trump’s executive order will face legal challenges, as the US constitution tasks Congress with authorising spending for the federal government.
Trump, while on Air Force One on Sunday evening, told reporters that he was prepared to “pay them [TSA agents] for as long as we need to” but urged Congress to pass a funding bill.
Homan also told CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, that even after the shutdown ended and funding for TSA was restored, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents currently deployed to airports across the country to help with travel disruptions would remain “until the airports feel like they are 100%.”
“Look, we’re going to continue a nice presence there,” he told CBS’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
He noted the length of time would depend on how many TSA agents came back to work after being paid.
“We need to secure those airports. ICE is there to help our brothers and sisters in TSA,” Homan told CBS. “We’ll be there as long as they need us.”
But there does not appear to be an end in sight in the feud between Republicans and Democrats over funding for the DHS, which encompasses TSA, as well as immigration agencies and the primary emergency agency that handles natural disasters. Congress is currently on a two-week break and left town without a deal.
The US Senate last week passed a compromise deal that would partially fund the DHS and aimed to alleviate airport travel delays, but Republicans in the US House of Representatives rejected the bill and instead voted to approve a short-term measure that funded the department in its entirety.
The Senate is not expected to pass that short-term measure, as Democrats have opposed funding for the department, which oversees Trump’s immigration agenda, without reforms, such as bans on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wearing masks and racial profiling.
Republicans in the House, though, have argued they would not support legislation without funding for immigration enforcement and voter ID requirements.
On Sunday, Trump again urged Congress to pass a funding bill. When asked if he would sign a measure that did not include money for immigration agencies, he said “ICE is vital to the well-being of our country” and bashed Democrats whom he accused of causing the shutdown.
The impasse over immigration has left TSA officers in limbo, with some quitting and others calling in sick and not showing up to work as they go without pay. About 500 have quit thus far, according to DHS.
In turn, airport security lines have led to lengthy delays. Videos on social media of travellers snaked around buildings in massive queues have gone viral, and led to concerns about the US’ ability to co-host the World Cup starting in June.
On Friday, more than 3,560 TSA officers called out of work, according to DHS, accounting for 12.35% of the agency’s total workforce.
By BBC News
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