The Senate voted Thursday to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a move aimed at ending the partial shutdown that has left many DHS employees working without pay or furloughed, according to The New York Times. The bill would restore appropriations for TSA and other DHS components but would not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Times reported.
- What passed: A Senate-approved DHS funding package to reopen TSA and most DHS operations, per The New York Times (March 27, 2026).
- What’s excluded: The measure does not fund ICE or CBP/Border Patrol, leaving those components outside the bill’s scope, the Times reported.
- What happens next: The House is expected to consider the measure as soon as Friday, which will determine how quickly affected employees return to paid status, according to the Times.
- Employee impact: The partial shutdown has affected DHS personnel through furloughs and missed pay, with some employees continuing to work as “excepted” staff, the Times reported.
- Operational impact: TSA staffing and airport screening operations have been among the most visible pressure points during the shutdown, according to the Times’ reporting.
Brief context
The funding vote comes amid a partial shutdown triggered by lapsed appropriations for parts of DHS. Under shutdown rules, agencies separate employees into “excepted” roles required to work for safety and security functions and “non-excepted” roles who are furloughed. Employees who are required to work generally do so without immediate pay until appropriations are restored; furloughed employees are typically returned to paid status once funding resumes, with back pay governed by federal law and agency payroll processing timelines.
The Senate package is designed to reopen major DHS functions without resolving the funding dispute over immigration enforcement agencies, according to The New York Times. That structure sets up a high-stakes House decision: if the House passes the measure quickly, TSA and other covered DHS employees could see pay restored sooner; if the House delays or amends the bill, the shutdown impacts could continue for affected components.
Federal employees tracking shutdown-related pay and status changes may want to monitor agency guidance and payroll updates as funding decisions move through Congress. For general shutdown pay rules and common misconceptions, see FedBrief’s explainer: https://fedbrief.org/.
Source: The New York Times, “Senate Votes to Fund TSA and Most of DHS to End Partial Shutdown,” U.S. Politics (March 27, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/us/politics/senate-dhs-ice-shutdown-funding.html