Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times,
The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became the longest in U.S. history on March 29.
The DHS shutdown reached its 44th day on Sunday, breaking the previous record set during the U.S. government shutdown in the fall of 2025.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill have blamed each other for the standstill while tossing a dizzying array of proposals through the halls of Congress that have not successfully moved forward.
Republicans criticized Democrats for not advancing their DHS spending bills as Democrats said they will not approve the funding bill until they are guaranteed to see an overhaul in how immigration operations are handled.
The House passed a stopgap plan to fund the DHS for 60 days on March 27 with a 213–203 vote.
The bill was sent to the Senate, which just went on a two-week recess.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has urged his colleagues to return to Washington and end the DHS shutdown.
“If you don’t want to fight fires, don’t become a firefighter,” Lee said during an interview on Fox News.
“If you don’t want to take grueling votes at difficult hours and sometimes have to work longer than you want to, maybe you shouldn’t become a United States senator.”
The short-term bill to fund the entire DHS passed the House after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rejected the Senate’s measure that would have funded most of the department, aside from its immigration enforcement operations.
“We hope that someday Democrats finally come to their senses again and put the safety of American citizens first but we’re not holding our breath,” Johnson said during a press conference on Saturday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he would not support the House’s bill that passed on Friday night.
“A 60 day CR that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it,” Schumer wrote in an X post.
“We’ve been clear from day one: Democrats will fund critical Homeland Security functions—but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms.”
The shutdown has caused extremely long lines at airports, as many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents—who have not received a check since mid-February—have not shown up at work.
Nearly 500 TSA agents have quit since the shutdown started because they weren’t able to pay for costs such as gas, groceries, or their mortgages, the DHS said.
TSA agents are expected to receive their long-delayed paychecks as soon as March 30, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order.
* * *
