President Donald Trump on Friday signed a memorandum directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pay its employees all owed compensation and benefits accrued during a nearly seven-week-long partial government shutdown.
Congress is in a stalemate in funding the agency, leaving tens of thousands of federal workers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other agencies without pay for nearly two months.
Trump blamed Democrats for the lapse in funding, with the title of his memorandum “Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown.”
“This callous treatment of DHS employees must end in order to ensure that America is not susceptible to security threats and maintains readiness to respond to emergencies,” the document reads.
Given the lack of funding, Trump called the action necessary for U.S. national security.
He directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russel Vought to use funds “that have a reasonable and logical nexus” to DHS functions, providing “each and every employee” with the compensation and benefits they would have accrued if not for the partial shutdown.
Once regular funding is restored to the agency, adjustments will be made to ensure operations continue as planned prior to the shutdown, Trump’s memorandum added.
“Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers,” Trump wrote.
Democrats in Congress have blocked further funding to DHS, demanding changes to ICE and CBP operations after shootings resulting in the deaths of two protesters against ICE operations earlier this year in Minneapolis.
“In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process,” a joint statement said.
The GOP wants to refund DHS through the regular appropriations process. A separate reconciliation bill would likely have to be passed by Republicans on their own later this year.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the Senate Budget Committee have started crafting a budget resolution to fund ICE and CPB for three years, the joint statement also said.
The House rejected a Senate-passed bill last week that did not fund ICE or CBP. Then the lower chamber advanced a bill to entirely fund DHS for 60 days, sending it to the upper chamber after it had begun a two-week recess.
Trump said he hopes a bill to fund DHS will be on his desk by June 1.
