President Trump announced on Thursday that he will sign an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers during the partial shutdown affecting the functionality of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The president issued his announcement via Truth Social, accusing Democrats of siding with “criminal illegal aliens” over the American people by not enforcing immigration law.
“They almost destroyed our Country, allowing 25 Million People to enter from Prisons, Mental Institutions, and Insane Asylums, those that are Drug Dealers, and thousands of Murderers, many of whom killed more than one person,” the president alleged.
“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump later added. “It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports.”
The agency has been shut down for 41 days, resulting in hour-long security checkpoint waits at airports across the country. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate will be holding an “open a vote on a wider DHS-funding bill but it’s unclear if that will pass,” per The Hill.
“Senate GOP sources told The Hill they expect the White House to take action to address huge security lines at the airports if Democrats refuse to accept the latest concessions to ensure that any money appropriated in the Homeland Security appropriations bill does not go toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) removal operations,” the outlet noted.
