WASHINGTON— Hopes that the Department of Homeland Security shutdown would end Friday dimmed quickly today after House Republicans rejected a Senate-passed bill that had been expected to reopen most of the agency, instead moving to extend the standoff with a short-term funding plan that faces steep odds in the Senate.
Early Friday, the Senate had approved a measure to fund most DHS through September, but Speaker Mike Johnson said the House would not accept a bill that omitted funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and some other Customs and Border Protection operations, POLITICO reported.
Johnson instead proposed extending DHS funding only through May 22, arguing House Republicans “are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement,” according to POLITICO.
But that plan drew a chilly reception in the Senate, where lawmakers had already left Washington for recess and where POLITICO reported there is effectively no path for the House GOP stopgap to clear either unanimous consent during pro forma sessions or 60 votes when senators return. Senate Majority Leader John Thune had pushed the earlier Senate bill as the fastest way to reopen most of DHS and address the immigration pieces later in budget reconciliation, POLITICO said.
For credit unions, the reversal means the operational and member-service pressures tied to the prolonged shutdown remain in place longer than expected—particularly for institutions serving TSA officers, Coast Guard families and other affected federal workers.
At the same time, President Trump on Friday signed a White House presidential memorandum directing DHS and the Office of Management and Budget to use legally available funds to pay TSA officers and employees, a move aimed at easing airport disruptions and restoring compensation for more than 60,000 TSA workers even as the broader DHS impasse continues. Multiple outlets reported the action Friday, while the White House published the memo under the title “Paying Our Great Transportation Security Administration Officers and Employees.”
That TSA relief matters directly to many credit unions and their members, especially those that have spent weeks helping affected workers bridge missed paychecks and mounting household strain, as CUToday.info reported here. But unless Congress resolves the broader funding fight, the larger DHS shutdown remains alive—and now appears poised to stretch past Friday despite what had looked early in the day like a near-certain off-ramp, analysts stated.