Update March 27, 2026, 12:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional info about the partial shutdown
In the wee hours of Friday morning, the Senate voted to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that had been left unfunded during the weeks-long partial government shutdown.
The agreement, which needs to be voted on by the House before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk, would fund the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), among other DHS agencies. It does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, which were taken care of as part of the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” passed last year.
It also lacks the reforms to immigration enforcement Democrats had been demanding as part of a deal and aspects of the SAVE America Act, which is a major priority of the GOP and Trump administration.
The surprise vote came after President Trump announced late Thursday that he would declare a national emergency so he could bypass Congress and okay TSA funding, which will come from the Big Beautiful Bill. Some 50,000 TSA officers have been working without pay for two pay periods, leading some 500 agents to quit and many others to call out. The result? Bedlam at the nation’s airports.
The president wrote on Truth Social that he “will not allow the radical left Democrats to hold our country hostage any longer,” ordering new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to “immediately pay our TSA agents and to quickly stop the Democrat chaos at the airports.”
Congress is headed for a two-week Easter recess, and Speaker Mike Johnson declined to say Friday morning whether he will keep the House in session over the weekend to pass the Senate-approved funding agreement.
Original article from March 25, 2026 below:
Markwayne Mullin was officially sworn in as the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the White House on Tuesday, jumping right into massive headaches at airports and in the nation’s capital.
Mullin Sworn In
As reported on Wednesday’s AM Update, Attorney General Pam Bondi swore in the former Republican senator from Oklahoma to replace outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem, whose tenure unraveled amid a series of controversies, including scrutiny over a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign, backlash tied to her handling of a recent ICE surge in Minnesota, and allegations of an affair with a colleague.
Secretary Mullin has inherited a department under immense strain, with critical functions like TSA forced to carry on without pay amid a partial shutdown. Speaking from the Oval yesterday, Mullin sent a not-so-subtle message to his former colleagues to get a deal done.
“Today, I got the privilege of meeting so many of the employees at DHS. These employees have been there for 30 days without pay,” he said. “If you need anything to know their dedication to show up and still protect the homeland that you and I enjoy and the freedoms that we’re experiencing, they’re working with for free because of political politics. That’s all I need to know. I told them, as you’re fighting 365 days, understand I’ll be fighting 365 days besides you.”
The Shutdown
It has now been 39 days since DHS funding lapsed, as Senate Democrats have refused to provide the votes needed to reopen the department without reforms to immigration enforcement, like banning masks on agents in the field and requiring judicial warrants for some arrests.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram reported Tuesday that Senate Republicans working on a deal to fund most of the department with the exception of programs in ICE that Democrats find controversial. According to Pergram, the proposal would have funded ICE investigations – like cartels, traffickers, and child predators – but excluded programs for immigration enforcement and deportations.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threw cold water on the plan, claiming his caucus is in lockstep despite the pain the shutdown is causing. “We have to rein in ICE and stop the violence. We need reform,” he told reporters. “Every one of my colleagues, every one, A, believes we should be unified, and, B, we need reforms of ICE. Every single one.”
Meanwhile, ICE agents have been called in to assist overwhelmed TSA officers at airports. Tuesday marked day two on the job and airports around the country have seen some improvement in wait times. TSA agents set to miss their second full paycheck this weekend if a deal is not made on Capitol Hill.
You can get all the day’s headlines by tuning into the AM Update with Megyn Kelly on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch AM Update on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111).