House passes DHS funding bill after Republicans reject Senate deal

House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate deal to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and instead approved their own funding measure Friday night, prolonging a weeks-long budget standoff that has affected the nation's airports.

The stopgap bill, which proposes to fully fund DHS for eight weeks, was approved by 213 votes to 203, after lower House Republicans refused to consider a Senate-passed deal that excluded funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol (CBP).

The political stalemate has exacerbated the situation at airports, where thousands of TSA employees have been forced to work without pay while unscheduled absences have soared since the partial shutdown began, further weakening the crisis at the nation's airports.

Johnson lashes out at Senate deal, defends own funding plan

The late-night vote came after House Speaker, Mike Johnson, called the previous bipartisan Senate bill a "joke" for withholding funds intended for agencies charged with running the Trump.

"This stunt that was pulled last night is a joke," Johnson told reporters Friday, complaining that the Senate bill left the country's borders unprotected. Instead, House Republicans presented alternative legislation that would fully fund TSA personnel as well as immigration agents and CBP personnel.

Both chambers must pass the same version of a bill before it can reach the president's desk.

Democrats once again charge Trump's immigration strategy

Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement that a funding measure "that maintains the status quo is doomed to fail in the Senate, and Republicans know it."

"Democrats will fund essential Homeland Security functions, but we won't give a blank check to Trump's illegal and deadly immigration militia without reforms," he added.

The bill's passage comes before the Senate begins a two-week recess, while the House will begin its own on Friday, which could mean an even longer period of hardship for air travelers and TSA workers.

Trump acts despite Democratic roadblock

For his part, President Trump signed a presidential memo Friday directing federal officials to ensure that TSA employees receive back pay during the ongoing DHS shutdown.

Trump called the situation an "emergency," alluding to the severe strain on airport security operations.

"Accordingly, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that bear a reasonable and logical relationship to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits they would have received but for the Democrat-led shutdown of DHS, in accordance with applicable law, including 31 U.S.C. 1301(a)."