Trump to take matters into his own hands to pay DHS employees, bypassing Congress

President Trump said he will soon sign an executive order to pay all Department of Homeland Security employees during the seventh week of the partial government shutdown.

Mr. Trump said congressional Democrats left him no choice but to make his unilateral move.

“Because the Democrats are fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement (which will hopefully cost them dearly in the Midterms!), allowing Murderers and Criminals of all types into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security,” he posted Thursday on Truth Social.

He said Republicans are unified “moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers.”

His promise to restore paychecks follows the Senate’s repassage of a bill earlier Thursday to fund the department, minus Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the border patrol functions of Customs and Border Protection.

Congress is in the first of a two-week recess, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, returned to Capitol Hill to pass the partial DHS funding bill. 

During Thursday’s pro forma session, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent, tossing the measure back to the House, where it met soon thereafter for its own pro forma session but did not take up the bill.

The lower chamber rejected it the first time around, but its passage is anticipated this time after House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, agreed to the upper chamber’s two-track funding plan.

“In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process,” Mr. Johnson and Mr. Thune said in a joint statement Wednesday.

The president also endorsed a GOP-only reconciliation measure to fund and reopen all of the department.

He set a June 1 deadline for Republicans to fund ICE and CBP through a party-line, filibuster-proof reconciliation budget package. If successful, the measure would close the tumultuous chapter of the record-long partial shutdown.

DHS employees have “suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal ’Leaders,’” Mr. Trump said on social media.

“Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country,” he added.

Democrats have demanded immigration enforcement changes, using the shutdown as a strategy to negotiate against the administration’s deportation agenda, which resulted in the ouster of thousands of migrants but also the fatal shooting of two Americans.

“For over a month, the defund-the-police Democrats have kept @DHSgov closed in an attempt to slow down ICE’s efforts to remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from our country and open our borders. Time and time again the Democrats have prioritized violent illegal aliens over American citizens,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.

The Washington Times asked the Democrats’ congressional leadership for reaction.