On Friday, President Trump instructed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to compensate “each and every employee” affected by what he termed the “Democrat-led DHS shutdown.”
President Trump directed Mullin, working alongside Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, to allocate “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS” to ensure payment for department workers who have been unpaid since February 14.
This directive was detailed in a memo titled “Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown.”
The memo highlights that “more than 35,000 employees, including Coast Guard civilians, Federal Emergency Management Agency staff involved in disaster preparedness, and cybersecurity experts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have been without a paycheck for nearly two months due to congressional Democrats.”
It further states, “As a result, thousands of DHS employees carrying out critical public safety duties are finding it difficult to support their families,” stressing that this “callous treatment of DHS employees must end to ensure America remains secure and ready to respond to emergencies.”
President Trump emphasized that the ongoing shutdown has now “constituted an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” prompting his order on Friday.
The president previously flexed his executive power to pay TSA agents and relieve congestion at airports across the country.
Trumpâs 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 Trumpâs 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. Â
Itâs unclear when the House plans to take up the Senate bill. Most lawmakers are on recess until the week of April 13.
