Trump’s Push to Pay DHS Without Congress Is Only a Temporary Fix

President Donald Trump’s move to instruct the Homeland Security Department to pay its employees during its partial shutdown may backfire by leaving no sense of urgency for Congress to fund the agency.

Trump’s decision has sparked legal questions and continued tensions between the White House and Congress. It’s taken pressure off lawmakers to negotiate new funding around disputes over immigration and border security, even though those issues remain a top White House priority, and could still lead to furloughs at DHS if the White House runs out of ways to shift money.

The executive order would pay DHS workers through a $10 billion fund appropriated in last year’s budget reconciliation bill for immigration enforcement. But the White House sees that as a temporary fix.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in March that Trump was doing “the right thing” by ordering pay for DHS workers, but Congress still needs to quickly act on fully funding the agency.

“The president just can’t keep signing presidential memorandums and proclamations every time Congress fails to do its job and every time Democrats are holding our entire country hostage picking and choosing which programs and agencies they want to fund just because they don’t like this administration’s policies,” Leavitt said.

When asked about the current DHS negotiations, the White House pointed to Trump’s recent comments requesting GOP senators fully fund Immigration and Custom Enforcement and DHS through the budget reconciliation process. The president met with Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) at the White House earlier this month to discuss plans with a goal of having funding in place by June 1.

“Reconciliation is on track, and we are moving fast and focused in keeping our border secure, and getting funding to the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to continue our incredible success at making America safe again,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

For now, lawmakers see Trump’s executive efforts as a way that can buy time to negotiate full funding for the agency. It also has temporarily eased travel chaos at national airports caused by unpaid TSA workers.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, said he also wants to see a quick resolution, but acknowledged Trump’s executive orders is taking away the urgency.

“It does seem as if the pressure to resolve this situation is not quite as intense now as it was a couple weeks ago because those lines at airports have been vastly reduced,” Boyle said.

Congress still needs at minimum a few weeks to come to an agreement on reopening DHS, said Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), vice chair of the House Republican Conference.

“It gives us a little bit of breathing room, but the urgency is still there and we can’t do it forever,” Moore said. “The administration should get a lot of credit for that, but it doesn’t make it so we have gobs of time.”

Unprecedented Moves

Trump’s efforts to pay DHS employees isn’t the first time the president has made sought new ways to shift money around in his second administration.

Last year, Trump moved untapped dollars from research and development funds and used a $130 million gift from a private donor to pay the U.S. military during the fall shutdown.

Trump’s approach has prompted concerns by Democrats, in particular, about his already strained relationship with congressional authority and the legality of making such moves.

“That’s a question for lawyers to ascertain right now,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). “The clearest pathway to make sure DHS workers can continue to be paid into the future is to pass the appropriations bill that’s bipartisan in nature.”

Devin O’Connor, who held several roles within the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration, said there’s been no affirmation by the White House on what grounds they have to move the money to pay workers, but the political pressure to pay workers may prevent any actual challenge.

“Nobody really has the incentive to challenge the legality of this,” O’Connor said.

Stalled Negotiations

So far, negotiations between congressional Democrats and the White House have gone nowhere on fresh DHS funding.

“We’re looking at a reconciliation to be able to get this done,” Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) said. “We’ve tried four times in the House to pass funding for DHS, but Democrats are unwilling to fund the agency.”

House conservatives, however, have bristled at that option setting up a potential internal battle on Capitol Hill.

“The right way to go about this is to make sure we fund ICE and CBP in reconciliation,” said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus. “I don’t see very many members willing to vote for the Senate bill absent of funding for ICE.”