With all the hub bub and coverage Trump’s Iran War is getting it’s easy to forget that we still have a partial government shutdown going on. So I thought I would do my best to let you all know where I think things stand.
This will be a two part update. The first part will be about Trump’s Executive Orders (EOs) to pay TSA & other DHS employees, and the second part will be about what Congress is doing (or more correctly “not doing”) to fund DHS.
Part One:
Trump’s First EO — The first EO Trump issued over a week ago deals only with the unpaid TSA employees. It simply directs the new head of DHS, Mark Wayne Mullen, to pay TSA employees with “funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations”. Vague enough to possibly keep the Orange Turd out of Constitutional hot water with regard to Congress’s Power of the Purse authority, and place the responsibility onto Mullen as to where the money comes from.
So where did the money come from?
Well there’s this from the Federal News Network:
The order does not specify an exact source of the funds. But CBS News, citing a senior administration official, reported that DHS would use funding from last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act to pay TSA employees.
Now the money in the Big Ugly Bill was earmarked for ICE and CBP. However, there could be some wishy washy language in that Bill which justifies moving these funds around within DHS without any further Congressional authorization. Feel free to go looking for it in the Turds EO, I’m not going to waste my time. Still the fact that they are being forced to take money away from ICE & CBP is a good thing. However, the EO reportedly requires that borrowed funds be payed back once Congress authorizes DHS funding, so ICE & CBP probably get their money back.
Also, I saw a report that I can no longer find, that said this EO only provides TSA backpay and not pay going forward as the shutdown continues. Not sure if this is true.
Trump’s Second EO (Memo) — From CBS News:
President Trump on Friday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to find a way to pay "each and every employee" of the agency, which has faced an almost two-month-long shutdown due to a congressional impasse, leaving thousands without paychecks.
The president's memo directs DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to "use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS." It does not list out the specific funding sources that DHS plans to tap, or the exact legal justification for moving those funds around.
I presume this includes all civilian Coast Guard employees, FEMA, and probably some other smaller agencies within DHS, not already covered by Trump’s previous TSA EO. This EO, or “Memo” as it’s referred to in the CBS report (not sure if the different designations mean anything), has the same vague weasel wording as the previous EO with respect to where the money to pay these folks is to come from. If I were to guess, Mullen will again tap some of the ICE & CBP money from the Big Ugly Bill to be paid back once Congress approves DHS funding. Whether any of this is Constitutional or not remains an open question which may or may not be answered by the Courts. BTW — Neither of these Presidential Orders covers things like FEMA payments to any disaster victims or any DHS purchases of supplies they may need to operate, only employees’ pay. Hope they don’t run out of toilet paper.
Part Two:
Congress — To recap a bit, before the Holiday break the Senate passed a bill by Unanimous Consent that would fund all parts of DHS, except ICE & CBP which are currently be funded through the Big Ugly Bill. Although this bill was put forth by Republican Senator Kennedy as a compromise, it’s the same bill that Schumer and the Democrats tried to put on the floor numerous times but were blocked by Republicans. Anyway after passing it the Senate left town for their two week recess leaving the House to deal with it.
However, instead of putting the Senate bill on the floor where it was sure to pass with 100% of the Democrats supporting it and enough House Republicans for passage, Squeaker Magic Mike Johnson decided to go with the hardliners in his caucus and put a different bill on the floor to fund all of DHS for 60 days including ICE & CBP without any operational controls. Pretty much the same bill that was previously filibustered in the Senate. It then passed with Republican votes and a few Dem. traders. The House then adjourned for their two week recess, so that Magic Mike could jam (screw) Thune like Thune had previously jammed him (hope you enjoyed your revenge Mike). This left TSA employees without pay over the busy Spring holiday, and the House and Senate pointing at one another as to who is to blame. Thanks Mike!
Then came Monday, after Senate Majority Leader Thune had been shafted by Johnson who he thought he had an agreement with to pass the Senate’s bill, then Mike returned the shafting. In a rare “Pro Forma” session with a handful of Senators on the floor Thune made a motion to table the House’s bill and return the previously passed Senate bill to the House. It passed by Unanimous Consent. Now it is certain that Thune contacted the out-of-town Republican Senators most likely to object and got their approval, since no Majority Leader wishing to remain Majority Leader would screw his own caucus. So Thune got his revenge.
After screwing each other Thune and Johnson arrived at what they thought was a deal. The House would pass the Senate bill during its own “Pro Forma” session and the Senate would pass the ICE & CBP through the Budget Reconciliation process, avoiding a Democratic filibuster. The deal was sweetened to get Trump’s endorsement by including Iran War funding and some of the SAVE Act in the new bill that they would try to get passed through the Budget Reconciliation process. Whether they would have enough Republican votes to pass war funding or whether any of the SAVE Act could survive the Senate’s Parliamentarian’s knife are to open questions I will leave for a possible future post.
With the two in agreement and Trump’s endorsement, Johnson was prepared to pass the Senate bill in a House “Pro Forma” session by Unanimous Consent. But as it turns out consent was not unanimous. Some of the House Republican hard liners refused to accept the deal, therefore no Unanimous Consent.
End of recap. So where are we now?
From the Providence Journal :
When will the House vote on the DHS funding bill?
It's unclear when the House will vote on the DHS funding bill.
While their next meeting is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, it's unclear whether the bill currently has enough support to pass.
Since Congress is technically on a scheduled two-week recess, leaving skeletal representation in both chambers, the funding extension must have unanimous support to go to the president's desk. However, hardline conservatives are a tough sell: the House Freedom Caucus wrote on social media of the compromise: "If allowing Democrats to surgically remove agencies they don’t like from the rest of the federal discretionary budget becomes the new norm… buckle up!"
The House's inability to immediately take up the DHS bill on Thursday, April 2, showed there may be concerns within the House Republican conference about whether it has enough support to survive without any lawmakers objecting. That means a vote might have to wait until lawmakers return from their break on Tuesday, April 14.
So there we are. Probably no vote on the Senate bill until the House comes back from recess on April 14. God forbid we interrupt any Republicans’ vacation.
What will happen when Congress returns?
Beats me, I’ve given up predicting what Magic Mike will do.
