Senate Republicans are accusing their Democratic counterparts of playing ‘political games’ as the caucus appears ready to escalate the standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
There’s been little movement to reopen DHS during the weekslong partial shutdown, leading to outcry from Republicans over long wait times and missed flights at airports across the country. Some Democrats are threatening to continue their blockade of DHS funding unless serious action is taken to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers in the Middle East.
‘We shouldn’t let Republicans debate other legislation until they bring a war authorization to the United States Senate,’ Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told NOTUS on Monday.
Murphy, the top Democrat on the appropriations panel overseeing DHS funding, has helped lead his party’s push to withhold funding for the department absent sweeping reforms to immigration enforcement.
His new threat to freeze Senate business over Trump’s Iran strikes underscores that some Democrats are prepared to extend the funding fight despite mounting impacts on air travel.
The Senate rejected a bipartisan resolution last week that would have narrowed Trump’s ability to launch future strikes on Iran. However, Murphy is signaling that Democrats’ attempts to limit the president’s power to wage war against Iran are just getting started.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., the chair of the Senate Homeland Security funding panel, scoffed at Murphy’s edict.
‘The delay tactics we’re seeing from Democrats don’t change the fact that, because of their political games, lines at airports are growing, and the people tasked with keeping our homeland safe are being forced to do so without a paycheck,’ Britt said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Britt, who Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., tapped to lead DHS negotiations with Senate Democrats, accused her counterparts of refusing to sit down with Republicans as the partial shutdown enters its fourth week.
‘I urge my Democratic colleagues to stop putting politics above people and do what’s right for the security of our nation,’ she said. ‘That starts with having a conversation so that we can find a pathway forward.’
Airports nationwide reported a spike in absences among Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees on Monday. Roughly 50,000 TSA personnel — who are employed by DHS — are reporting to work without pay after receiving just a fraction of their salaries last week.
The agents will not receive another paycheck until the partial shutdown ends.
The New Orleans airport on Monday advised passengers to arrive at least three hours before their flight, citing a shortage of TSA employees. Passengers traveling through the Houston airport system have also been urged to arrive four to five hours before their departure.
‘The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry and our passengers are being used as a political football once again,’ Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America and former New Hampshire governor, said in a statement. ‘This is simply unacceptable and un-American.’
TSA employees were also forced to forgo pay during the record-breaking government shutdown in late 2025.
A majority of Democratic lawmakers in both chambers voted to continue the DHS shutdown last week despite new security concerns over Trump’s military operation in Iran. The bipartisan measure that Democrats overwhelmingly opposed would fund DHS through the remainder of the fiscal year.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has demanded that federal immigration officers stop wearing masks and obtain judicial warrants before entering homes and businesses, among other reforms, in order to unlock funding for the agency.
Senate Democrats and the White House have been negotiating, but a deal has yet to materialize. The last counteroffer from the administration came nearly two weeks ago but has so far not been accepted by congressional Democrats.
Some Republicans hoped that Trump’s decision to tap Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to lead DHS could soften Democrats’ opposition, but the party has continued to take a hard line against funding the agency. Democrats had advocated for outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s ouster as part of their numerous demands.
A Democratic blockade of Senate business would jeopardize the passage of a bipartisan housing bill aimed at growing the supply of affordable homes, which is currently under consideration in the upper chamber. Trump-endorsed voter ID legislation would also be impacted, but Democrats were already expected to widely oppose the measure, known as the SAVE America Act.
Fox News Digital reached out to Murphy’s office for additional comment.