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Legislative Update
Homeland Security Funding. With wait times in TSA security lines stretching to four hours or more at some airports, the Senate and House took action last week to provide funding for TSA programs. However, Republicans in the two chambers were not on the same page, and lawmakers left town for a two-week recess without resolving the impasse over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, President Trump signed an executive memorandum on Friday instructing DHS to pay TSA officers immediately, with the expectation that pay checks will go out today or tomorrow.
The Senate took the first step on TSA funding when it gave unanimous consent around 2 a.m. on Friday to legislation that would fund DHS except for ICE and the Border Patrol. Senators then left for recess, assuming the House would approve the same bipartisan measure. House Republicans, though, were not united in their support for the Senate-passed bill, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to come up with an alternative plan – a 60-day continuing resolution for all Homeland Security programs. The new proposal was then referred to the House Rules Committee, which met at 3:30 on Friday and then voted 8-4 to report a self-executing rule providing that if the House approved the rule, on a majority vote, the short-term DHS funding would automatically be deemed as passed with no need for a vote on the actual proposal.
Since the House can’t consider a rule on the same day that it is reported by the Rules Committee, the House voted at 8 p.m. to adjourn and reconvene at 9:30 p.m. as a new legislative day to debate the rule. At 11:30 p.m., the House voted 213-203 in favor of the rule, thereby approving two months of funding for Homeland Security. Following the House vote, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the House approach would be “dead on arrival” in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome procedural hurdles. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to session the week of April 13.
FY 2027 Budget. President Trump will send his budget request for FY 2027 to Congress on Friday, April 3. Many budget experts expect that the budget request will not be a full budget that details spending and revenue proposals in fiscal years beyond 2027. In addition, the Treasury Department said March 10 that it will not issue the Greenbook that outlines revenue proposals and tax policy changes in the President’s budget request.
Executive Action of Note
The President’s March 27 memorandum directing Homeland Security and the White House budget office to pay TSA employees did not include a specific source of revenue but rather referred to “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations.”
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