President Trump directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday to pay “each and every employee” impacted by the “Democrat-led DHS shutdown.”
Trump instructed Mullin, in coordination with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, to use “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS” to provide compensation to department workers that have gone without pay since Feb. 14.
The president issued the order in a memo titled “Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown.”
“More than 35,000 employees, including Coast Guard civilians, Federal Emergency Management Agency employees helping to prepare the Nation for disaster response, and cybersecurity professionals at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have gone without a paycheck for nearly 2 months because of congressional Democrats,” the memo states.
“As a result, thousands of DHS employees who are performing their critical public safety responsibilities are struggling to make ends meet and provide for their families,” it continues. “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.”
Trump argued the circumstances of the shutdown now “constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” necessitating Friday’s order.
The president previously flexed his executive power to pay TSA agents and relieve congestion at airports across the country.
Trump’s latest order comes the same week he announced a breakthrough in negotiations to reopen DHS that will see House Republicans back a Senate plan to fund the entire department except for parts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
ICE and CBP were funded last summer through Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Senate plans to further fund those agencies through the reconciliation process, which does not require a 60-vote threshold to pass.
It’s unclear when the House plans to take up the Senate bill. Most lawmakers are on recess until the week of April 13.
