President Trump said on Thursday that he would sign an emergency order to pay Transportation Security Administration agents, as senators struggled to break their logjam over funding the Department of Homeland Security and end the intensifying crisis at airports.
With long lines at airports ahead of a prime spring travel weekend, and with lawmakers eager to compromise ahead of their two-week recess, Democrats and Republicans spent the day haggling over an elusive deal amid disputes over Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown. They continued to trade proposals, at times in public in the Senate chamber, to end a weekslong impasse.
But even as the pace of negotiations picked up, there was still no sign of a deal by dusk, which Mr. Trump acknowledged in a social media post announcing his plan. “I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation,” he said.
The details of Mr. Trump’s order were not immediately available, including what authority the White House would cite to make the funds available.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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