The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill funding the majority of the Department of Homeland Security, likely bringing an end to weeks of frustration and uncertainty over TSA staffing levels at major airports.
The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate last month, would restore funding for all of DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. It now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump for his signature.
TSA is a part of DHS, and will receive full funding under the House compromise. The agency shed hundreds of employees earlier this year when staff were required to continue reporting to work without being paid.
The combination of resignations and callouts left many airports severely understaffed, resulting in security wait lines that took some passengers three hours or more to clear. Backups were most severe at airports such as Atlanta, Houston Bush, Houston Hobby, New Orleans, and New York-JFK.
Trump in March ordered DHS to find a way to pay TSA workers, and within days staff began receiving back pay, though not always in the correct amounts. The measure was enough to stabilize airport operations over the past month, though there were concerns that, as the emergency funding lapsed, wait times could rebound.
The American Federation of Government Employees cheered the House bill’s passage Thursday but also urged Congress to approve separate legislation that would pay federal workers during future shutdowns. The union also said it was “unacceptable” that lawmakers took 76 days to resolve the issue.
Republicans in Congress plan to fund ICE and border enforcement through a separate bill, without Democratic backing.
