Schumer gambit fails as DHS shutdown hits 36 days and airport lines grow

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forced a rarely used procedural tactic to pay TSA workers, which Senate Republicans blocked in their quest to fully reopen DHS. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

The shutdown entered its 36th day Saturday and is heading toward matching the record-breaking full government shutdown from last year.Schumer’s failed gambit follows increasingly long wait times at airports as thousands of TSA agents go without pay.

Senate Democratshave dug in deep in their demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and have so far refused to reopen the agency or temporarily extend funding to end the closure until they get what they want.

Senate Republicans and the White House made a new compromise offer to Democrats on Friday night after an open letter from the administration on several reforms toimmigration operationswas revealed earlier this week.The letter prompted a pair of back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill with Republicans, Democrats and administration officials.

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Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport  in Atlanta,(Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Whether they accept that offer or counter remains in the air for now.Sen.Katie Britt,R-Ala., who was in the meeting, said that she hoped there would be another soon.

“That will be up to them, but I hope so,” Britt said.

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Still, Republicans tried and failed for a fifth time to fully reopen the agency on Friday.In the background, there have been several attempts by Senate Democrats to move forward with standalone funding bills — like Schumer’s gambit — to open parts of DHS, save for immigration enforcement.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during the Senate Republicans’ news conference in the Ohio Clock Corridor in the U.S.Capitol Feb.10, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Time is also running out for lawmakers to find middle ground on reopening the agency, given that they will leaveWashington, D.C., for a two-week break at the end of next week.

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At a news conference earlier Saturday, Senate Majority LeaderJohn Thune,R-S.D.�very, very hard to explain if we leave town this next week without having funded the Department of Homeland Security.”

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“At some point,the Democratsare going to be held accountable for this,” Thune said.

“I know they think it’s, as has been described by one of their leaders, ‘very serene, very serene’ with their position,” he continued.“Well, I’m telling you something.The people who are sitting in those lines at the airports right now don’t see it as very serene.This needs to be resolved.”

S.Senate.