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  "path": "/post/207819/republicans-tsa-shutdown-block-funding",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-16T17:44:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://newrepublic.com",
  "tags": [
    "Breaking News",
    "Politics",
    "Republican Party",
    "Donald Trump",
    "Department of Homeland Security",
    "Immigration",
    "ICE",
    "Government Shutdown",
    "Shutdown",
    "Senate",
    "TSA",
    "Katie Britt",
    "Cynthia Lummis",
    "wrote on X",
    "blocked",
    "six separate times",
    "on X",
    "said"
  ],
  "textContent": "Alabama Senator Katie Britt condemned Democrats for not funding the Transportation Security Administration, just days after she voted against her Democratic colleagues’ attempt to fund the agency.\n\n“TSA officers have gone 74 days without a paycheck in FY26 because of Democrats’ two shutdowns. This is absolutely unacceptable,” Britt wrote on X Monday. “Democrats need to end their political posturing, stop using our TSA agents as political pawns, and fully fund DHS.”\n\nBut just last week, it was Britt who blocked the Democrats’ effort to fund TSA.\n\nThe Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down, with Democrats demanding new policies to rein in federal immigration enforcement agencies. In an attempt at compromise, Washington Senator Patty Murray asked Wednesday for unanimous consent for a measure to fund TSA, FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other essential agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. But Britt objected.\n\n“We have political games being played by our Democratic colleagues instead of putting the people of this nation first,” Britt said at the time. “Mr. President, what we’ve just seen put forth by the senator from Washington would effectively defund our law enforcement officers that are charged with keeping Americans safe.”\n\nBut clearly, it is Britt who would like to keep TSA agents unpaid for political leverage.\n\nSenate Republicans have voted six separate times against Democrats’ attempts to fund essential agencies run by the Department of Homeland Security. That’s not stopping them from blaming the long airport lines on their Democratic counterparts.\n\n“For the third time in six months, TSA officers are working without pay because of Democrat shutdowns. American livelihoods aren’t a political game. Fund DHS now,” Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis wrote on X Monday.\n\nBut just days prior, while debating against the measure to fund TSA officers, it appears the answer seemed less clear to her.  “We’re in a terrible conundrum here,” she said on the Senate floor.",
  "title": "Republicans Are Pissed About TSA Shutdown—After Blocking TSA Funding"
}