President Trump said he will soon sign an executive order to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees as the partial government shutdown reaches day 47.
Mr. Trump said Congress’ Democrats had left him no choice.
“Because the Democrats are fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement (which will hopefully cost them dearly in the Midterms!), allowing Murderers and Criminals of all types into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security,” he said on Truth Social Thursday.
He said Republicans are unified for “moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers.”
His promise to restore paychecks follows the Senate’s repassage of a bill earlier Thursday to fund the department minus Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the border patrol functions of Customs and Border Protection.
It will head back to the House, where it was first rejected but is expected to pass the second time around after House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, agreed to the upper chamber’s two-track funding plan.
“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,” Mr. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said in a joint statement Wednesday.
The president recently set a June 1 deadline for Republicans to fund ICE and CBP through a party-line, filibuster-proof reconciliation budget package. If successful, the measure would close the tumultuous chapter of the record-long partial shutdown.
DHS employees have “suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal ’Leaders,’” Mr. Trump said Thursday.
“Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” he added.
Democrats have demanded immigration enforcement strategy reforms, using the shutdown as a strategy to negotiate against the administration’s hardline deportation agenda, which resulted in the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens.
