GOP Senator John Kennedy revealed on Fox News that Trump personally killed a bipartisan deal to end the DHS shutdown and pay TSA agents. Kennedy and Senator Ted Cruz proposed funding all of DHS except ICE — which would have gotten TSA agents paid “by the end of the week” — with a separate reconciliation bill for ICE to follow. Trump rejected it, saying “no deals with the Democrats” and demanding Democrats first vote for the SAVE America Act.
The partial DHS shutdown, now in its sixth week since February 14, left TSA officers working without pay as “essential workers.” Staffing shortages caused nationwide airport chaos — officers quitting, calling in sick, and some airports advising travelers to arrive hours early.
A Republican senator publicly admitting the president killed a deal his own party negotiated is a remarkable moment of candor — revealing that TSA workers remained unpaid not because no solution existed, but because Trump refused to accept one.