GOP Senator Floats Standalone Bill, Executive Order to End DHS Funding Standoff: ‘Just Open, Just Pay TSA’

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he was onboard to end the Department of Homeland Security funding standoff with a standalone bill to just fund TSA — but then said he was “holding off” because he expected President Donald Trump to issue an executive order that essentially did the same thing.

As the standoff between Democrats and Republicans in Congress over funding for DHS has dragged on, TSA agents are working at the nation’s airports without being paid. Numerous agents who cannot afford to forgo their paychecks have been calling out, leaving travelers mired in hours-long security lines — including an NTSB investigator who was trying to get to the scene of a deadly runway crash at LaGuardia Airport.

On Monday, Kennedy confirmed reports that there had been a deal on the table from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) where the Democrats would agree to end the shutdown by funding everything but ICE, so the TSA agents could get paid, but Trump killed that deal.

By Tuesday, however, Kennedy was saying that Trump might actually have changed his mind again, and was possibly now willing to support the deal and bring the shutdown to an end.

Two days later, Kennedy was floating a new tactic: funding just TSA.

NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur reported on the possible breakthrough, posting that Kennedy ” says he may champion a standalone bill to fund TSA.”

“I’m thinking about just going down to the floor and making a motion under unanimous consent. Just open, just pay TSA,” Kapur reported Kennedy had said, adding that the Louisiana senator was unsure if Thune would be on board and that Senate Republicans have “resisted” such deals so far.

Several Democratic Senators tweeted their support for a TSA standalone bill.

Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio noted that Republicans “have objected to this approach on the floor for several days in a row,” but are “split” on it. The idea was discussed at Wednesday’s Senate GOP lunch meeting, Desiderio added, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) broaching the topic.

Shortly after reports began circulating about Kennedy looking at a TSA standalone bill, several media outlets reported that Trump was considering issuing an executive order that would purport to accomplish the same thing.

The Wall Street Journal described the “fallback plan” Senate Republicans were urging the president to pursue:

Several Senate Republicans are pressing the White House to declare a national emergency to free up money to pay Transportation Security Administration agents if lawmakers fail to reach a deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Invoking the National Emergency Act, the people said, could give the administration flexibility to use unspent government funds to temporarily pay TSA employees. The potential move comes as tens of millions of Americans prepare to travel for spring break, as well as the Easter and Passover holidays, and face long lines due to workers calling out sick.

Using an executive order to fund TSA is likely to run into legal challenges, as many of Trump’s previous executive orders have faced, for lacking the proper legal authority, the Journal reported, noting how the Antideficiency Act “prohibits federal spending without an appropriation by Congress.”

An article by Alexander Bolton at The Hill went a bit further, reporting that “Senate Republicans expect President Trump to announce an executive action Thursday afternoon to solve the shutdown,” as a “growing number” among their ranks view the TSA shutdown “as a political liability for the GOP as the party in control of government” and they are pessimistic about their chances of getting Democrats to agree to a deal.

Kennedy spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon and said “he’s holding off on offering a bill on the Senate floor to pay TSA workers during the partial government shutdown because he expects Trump to make a major announcement Thursday afternoon,” the Hill reported.

“If the Democrats do not accept our latest offer, I would not faint with surprise if you heard from the president of the United States with his thoughts this afternoon,” said Kennedy.

“There is no way in God’s green earth that Sen. [Chuck] Schumer is going to sign off anything that is construed as helping ICE. He’s not,” the senator added. “We need to stop looking reality in the eye and denying it.”

According to the Hill, Kennedy’s plan was present a bill for a floor vote to get TSA workers paid while Republicans pushed for a bill to fund DHS under the budget reconciliation process, but then he held off because he heard about Trump’s intention to issue an executive order.

“I’m going to hold up on that now,” said Kennedy, “because … I expect my bill not to be necessary because of actions that may or not be taken by the White House.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied any plan was underway in a statement to the Journal.

“It is true the White House is having discussions about a number of ideas to blunt the impact of the Democrat shutdown crisis, but no preparations or plans are currently underway,” she said. “The best and easiest way to pay TSA Agents is to fund DHS.”

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