Texas lawmakers spar over DHS funding as long lines loom at US airports

Republican senator John Cornyn and Democratic congressman Greg Casar of Texas squabbled outside Austin’s international airport on Monday over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as the shutdown of the agency enters its second month.Cornyn, the longtime Texas senator who is locked in a tough primary battle against attorney general Ken Paxton, went to Austin-bergstrom-international-airport" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="45195" data-entity-type="location">Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to bring Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees lunch. As he pulled up outside the terminal, he encountered Casar, whose district includes Austin and whom a spokesperson said was there to catch a flight back to Washington DC.“Why don’t you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people?” Cornyn told Casar in a crowd of reporters.“Let’s do it,” Casar replied, prompting Cornyn to shoot back: “No, you do it!”Representative Greg Casar addresses a crowd during a rally in Austin, Texas, on 16 August 2025. Photograph: Nuri Vallbona/ReutersThe two then talked over each other, with Casar, who chairs the congressional progressive caucus, saying that Democrats had proposed legislation to fund only TSA while working out the broader questions around immigration enforcement.“Not acceptable,” Cornyn replied, before bringing up a recent mass shooting in downtown Austin.“These people are keeping us safe,” he said. “Tell the Democrats to vote for funding the DHS.”The two then parted ways, with Casar later saying that Cornyn was refusing to compromise over immigration reforms in order to secure the president’s backing in the Senate race, which could help him fend off Paxton’s primary challenge.“He’s bootlicking so hard to get Donald Trump’s endorsement that he’s willing to go to any length, no matter how degrading it is,” Casar said. “And to me, that is really sad from the senator who we used to think of as a little more independent, a little bit more Texas tough.”The department has been without funding since mid-February, after Democrats said they would not vote to authorize its operations unless Republicans agreed to new restrictions on federal agents conducting immigration enforcement, including that they show identification, stop wearing masks and cease detaining people on the street.The shutdown has meant that employees of TSA, which is under the homeland security department, have gone weeks without pay, leading to lengthy security lines at some airports and public pleas from airline CEOs to end the standoff.Passengers wait in line at Ronald Reagan Washington National airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday. Photograph: Kylie Cooper/ReutersSpeaking to reporters at the airport, Cornyn said TSA employees had missed one full and one partial paycheck, and that Democrats should reauthorize funding for DHS while negotiations over immigration operations play out.“We can talk about that after people start getting paid again,” Cornyn said. “Those debates will not end when they get paid, but it just means we won’t be holding these poor people hostage who have nothing to say about what those reforms will look like.”Democrats last week tried to win unanimous agreement in the Senate to pass legislation that would fund DHS operations outside of immigration enforcement, but were blocked by Republicans. The GOP also tried to pass a DHS funding bill that did not include reforms, but it did not receive enough Democratic support to clear the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold to advance.Earlier today, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, announced the party would later this week begin circulating a petition to force a vote on similar legislation in the Republican-controlled chamber. The petition needs 218 signatures to succeed, and Democrats control 214 seats.