DHS Shutdown Nears Six Weeks with No Resolution, Airport Delays Persist
Welcome to the live blog covering the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, now approaching six weeks without resolution.
On Wednesday, negotiations to reopen DHS failed to produce a breakthrough. Democratic lawmakers have called for new restrictions on federal agents involved in the president’s deportation efforts. Republicans, however, rejected these demands and proposed removing funding for immigration enforcement from the homeland security spending bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer promptly dismissed the Republican proposal, stating that Democrats had responded with a countermeasure linking DHS funding to numerous new safeguards on immigration enforcement operations—measures Democrats have advocated for months.
Despite this, the Republican Party showed no willingness to accept the offer. Senate Majority Leader John Thune responded to the Democrats’ counterproposal by urging seriousness in negotiations.
The funding lapse has resulted in significant delays at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints at major airports such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. In response, the president deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents this week to help alleviate congestion.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that nearly 500 TSA officers have resigned since the shutdown, which she referred to as “the Democrat shutdown.”
This is a dire situation,
Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified during a House hearing on Wednesday.
The ongoing impasse is expected to extend the partial government shutdown, which began after Democrats refused to approve funding for the department overseeing ICE, border patrol, and other agencies involved in the administration’s mass deportation efforts. Democrats have insisted on reforms following the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of federal agents.
Meanwhile, Schumer has attributed the travel disruptions to Republicans, asserting that their latest proposal disrupted negotiations that had been approaching a compromise.
We thought there had been some progress. Then Republicans sent us their offer yesterday, and it contained none of what we talked about, none of the reforms we had been discussing,
Schumer stated on the Senate floor.
So if anyone is slowing down negotiation and hurting TSA workers, it is the Republican leadership, who did not include one single reform.
At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill reported that airports nationwide are experiencing the highest wait times in TSA history as the DHS shutdown enters its sixth week. She noted that the agency has been shut down for 50% of the fiscal year so far, including last year’s record 43-day lapse in federal funding.
McNeill informed lawmakers that by Friday, TSA employees will have missed $1 billion in paychecks due to the shutdown.
The United States has also conducted another strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, resulting in four fatalities, according to the U.S. Southern Command. The command, responsible for combat operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced via X that it executed a "lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations."
Progressive lawmakers have introduced a new policy proposing a moratorium on the construction of AI data centers. This initiative, announced by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, aims to ensure that the AI industry’s growth protects the environment and communities while benefiting workers.
In other news, Bill Pulte, the Trump administration’s federal housing director, has requested prosecutors to investigate New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged insurance fraud. According to criminal referrals reported by MS Now, the referrals sent to prosecutors in Florida and Illinois accuse James of mortgage insurance fraud related to applications submitted to Universal Property Insurance in Florida and Allstate in Illinois.
Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro Returns to U.S. Court Over Legal Fees Dispute
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan court on Thursday to argue for the dismissal of drug trafficking charges against him. This comes more than two months after he and his wife were captured during a surprise U.S. military raid in Caracas.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been involved in a dispute concerning U.S. sanctions that prevent the Venezuelan government from funding their legal defense, according to .
Both Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have pleaded not guilty to charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy and remain jailed in Brooklyn pending trial.
They have petitioned U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss the charges, arguing that their inability to access Venezuelan public funds hinders their constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to have counsel of their choice.
Their attorneys have stated that Maduro and Flores cannot afford their defense fees independently.
Barry Pollack, Maduro’s lawyer who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has indicated his intention to withdraw from the case if Judge Hellerstein does not dismiss the charges and the Venezuelan government remains unable to pay his fees.
