Here's the latest
• Shutdown likely to continue: The House GOP is moving forward with its own plan to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security after Speaker Mike Johnson flatly rejected a Senate-passed bill. Democrats, who are holding out for immigration reforms, have said the House plan is a non-starter, meaning the DHS shutdown will likely extend further.
• Paychecks plan: DHS said TSA workers could start receiving paychecks as early as Monday under a plan released by President Donald Trump. TSA officers called out of work at record rates Thursday as they were asked to stay on without pay.
• Travel woes: Americans face worsening airport wait times this weekend. CNN spoke to travelers who stood in line for hours today at some of the country’s major hubs.
• More from the White House: Trump said he backed the move to reject the Senate DHS bill. He also renewed his calls for Republicans to eliminate the filibuster.
Air traffic control facility evacuation triggers ground stops for Washington-area airports
Travelers in the DC Metro area may expect additional travel delays this evening as a key air traffic control facility responsible for flights in the area is being evacuated, triggering ground stops for flights to several airports in the area, according to FAA alerts.
The ground stop impacts Ronald Reagan National Airport, Dulles International Airport, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, as well as Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport and Richmond International Airport in Virginia.
Flights could be delayed or held in the air for as long as an hour, the FAA said. The incident could only add to travel woes at airports where flyers have faced long lines and TSA security delays caused by a partial government shutdown.
The FAA alerts list the reason as “environmental” at Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control in Warrenton, Virginia. The facility is responsible for 20,000 square miles of some of the most complex airspace in the country.
Two weeks ago, the facility was temporarily closed due to an equipment malfunction that omitted a strong chemical smell. The source was traced to an overheated circuit board, which was replaced, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
CNN has reached out to the FAA.
This post has been updated with additional information.
House GOP aiming to pass their DHS funding bill late Friday
House GOP leadership has advised members to return to the Capitol to vote late Friday evening on their short-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill.
Leadership is currently projecting that a final vote to pass the bill will take place at approximately 10:30-11 p.m ET. As always, timing of the floor schedule is fluid and can be subject to change.
The vote will be on the adoption of what’s known as the rule, which typically would be a procedural vote that sets up a final vote. But in this case, due to language added to the rule, the adoption of the rule will be considered passage of the bill itself. It’s a move House GOP leaders are taking to fast-track the vote tonight.
Meanwhile, Trump gave freewheeling remarks at a summit in Miami tonight
While lawmakers grappled with the Department of Homeland Security shutdown on Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump touched on a range of other topics tonight in a speech at the FII Priority Summit in Miami.
The president addressed the war with Iran and funding for NATO, as well as his potential plans for Cuba.
Here’s more of what he had to say tonight:
Trump told investors they could “talk sex” as he opened for questions after delivering his remarks.
The first questioner thanked Trump for taking questions, but did not take the president up on the offer. “Let’s talk about business,” he said.
The president also addressed the January deal that secured TikTok’s future, seeming to credit his support for the sale to his popularity on the app, calling himself the “number one person on TikTok.”
Trump said he reached out to Chinese President Xi Jinping to ask him to bless the joint venture acquiring TikTok’s US assets, saying the deal would be “good for everybody.”
This post has been updated to note more of Trump’s comments at the summit.
Airline employees play music as travelers contend with multiple-hour lines in Baltimore
It’s almost officially the weekend and spring break travelers are starting to head out of town, creating long lines again at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
The security line stretches the length of the terminal building outside and snakes around inside as TSA is short-staffed due to callouts and the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
It is almost a mile long and takes more than 20 minutes to walk its length.
In an effort to boost spirits as people wait multiple hours to get through security check points, Southwest employees are playing music on a large speaker inside the terminal building. The “Macarena” and “Who Let the Dogs Out” had a handful of people grooving.
Earlier today, when lines were even longer than they are now, Southwest employees were handing out water and snacks.
The airport posted on X, warning passengers to still come to the airport three hours early, as they expect wait times to pick up again this afternoon and evening.
Meanwhile: Trump says “Cuba’s next” as he touts US military action in Iran and Venezuela
President Donald Trump said Friday that Cuba is “next” as he touted US military action in Venezuela and Iran.
“I built this great military. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it,’ but sometimes you have to use it,” Trump said during his speech at the FII Priority Summit in Miami.
“And Cuba is next, by the way, but pretend I didn’t say that please,” Trump quipped to the audience. “Pretend I didn’t say that. Please, please, please, media, please disregard that statement. Thank you very much. Cuba’s next.”
Earlier today Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated his push for regime change in Cuba, saying that new leadership will be required for the island’s economy to improve.
“Cuba’s economy needs to change and their economy can’t change unless their system of government changes. It’s that simple,” Rubio told reporters in Paris following a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, where he said Cuba was discussed.
The secretary added that under the current leadership, “the people of Cuba are suffering” and the country is unable to “join the 21st century.”
Trump compares Democrats to Iran as fight over DHS funding is prolonged
President Donald Trump criticized Democrats as the fight to fund the Department of Homeland Security drags out in Congress, calling lawmakers across the aisle “deranged” and comparing them to Iran.
“The conflict in Iran also makes it absolutely vital for the radical left Democrats in Congress to immediately end their dangerous shutdown of our Department of Homeland Security,” he said during remarks at a summit in Florida.
“These people are lunatics. They sort of remind me of — they remind me, actually, a little bit of Iran. They’re deranged,” Trump added.
A Senate-passed bill does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection — a key sticking point of the impasse. Today, House GOP leaders rejected the proposal and said they would instead push for a short-term funding extension for the entire department.
As the conflict with Iran continues, Trump said, the function of DHS to “keeping America safe” is more important than ever.
The president said Democrats “want no protection of any kind to be given, reopening our borders and stopping all immigration enforcement in our country.”
Key committee advances House GOP package to fund all of DHS for 8 weeks
The House Rules Committee voted to advance the House GOP package to fund all of the Department of Homeland Security at current levels for 8 weeks, rather than the package unanimously approved by the Senate last night that would fund most of DHS for the rest of the fiscal year, except ICE and border patrol.
In order to move quickly, House Republicans have written the procedural language so that their funding package will be deemed as passed as soon as the full House approves the first procedural step for the bill on the floor.
This is known as a “deemer” and allows them to skip a final vote on the bill. The House could finish their business as soon as tonight with a two-week recess bearing down on the chamber.
Trump says he doesn't blame Thune or Johnson for the DHS shutdown
President Donald Trump declined to blame either House Speaker Mike Johnson or Senate Majority Leader John Thune as the two men struggle to land on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate overnight passed a bill that would end the DHS shutdown but did not fund immigration enforcement. Today, Johnson rejected that deal and House Republicans are instead preparing to pass a bill that would fund all of DHS on a short-term basis, which Senate Democratic leaders have already said is dead on arrival in that chamber.
“I understand John Thune and I understand Mike Johnson,” Trump said from a tarmac in Miami today. “They want to be sure that people aren’t coming into our country like they have for the last four years. I don’t want to say they’ve ruined it. They made my job a lot harder and now we have it good.”
Trump made it clear that he blames Democrats for the weekslong shutdown.
“I have spent the better part of this year trying to get these criminals out and the Democrats want to have them come in,” he told reporters today. “And we can’t let that happen. We just can’t let that happen.”
People stand in lines for hours at some airports during another messy travel day
Air travel is still a mess at some airports across the country as TSA officers, who are working without pay during the DHS shutdown, call out. Here’s what CNN has been seeing at some of the major hubs:
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport:
Security lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield were initially backed up through the building’s atrium and all the way outside the building this morning. Those overflow lines are now gone, with things moving smoothly this afternoon, CNN’s Ryan Young said. ICE officers are manning the ID checks similar to yesterday.
One person in line this morning, Chris, who did not share his last name, said he understands why TSA agents might not be working. “If you work, you want to get paid. I can’t blame them for not coming in,” he said.
LaGuardia Airport in New York City:
Several people told CNN’s Jason Carroll that they arrived three to five hours early for their flights. Two passengers going to New Orleans for a wedding, Noah Saffer and Aryn Turk, described the situation at the airport as “insanity.”
“These are people’s jobs. This is people’s livelihood, and, you know, it’s they got to do better,” Turk said.
Another traveler, Diane Drummond, who was flying to Key West, also said, “Congress needs to do their job, stop futzing around and messing up everyone’s lives.”
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston:
Some passengers arrived 7-8 hours ahead of their flights’ scheduled departures from Houston where four hour wait times were reported before 5 a.m. local time.
A Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent was seen working the ID check in the security checkpoint line, being trained by a TSA officer, CNN’s Ed Lavandera reported. White House border czar Tom Homan was also briefly at the airport this morning, he said.
Baltimore-Washington International Airport:
Security lines stretched inside and outside the terminal today, with waits reaching up to three hours. There’s a person at the end of the “almost unbelievable” line with a yellow sign to tell people were to go, CNN’s Pete Muntean reported.
Passenger Steve Snider, told Muntean his message other travelers was to “come early and don’t vote Republican.” Others echoed his advice of arriving early, as wait times today have peaked at over three hours.
“I think they need to hire more people,” another traveler said as he neared the final section of the line.
CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Ivan Rodriguez contributed reporting to this post.
Attendance issues are plaguing House GOP leadership and could impact vote timing
Now that House Republican leaders has decided on a game plan, they are scrambling to figure out how quickly they can execute it given attendance issues hat are only expected to get worse into the weekend.
Moving forward with a bill that would fund all of DHS, including ICE and border patrol, House Republicans are not counting on any votes from House Democrats. GOP leaders want to vote as soon as possible and not lose momentum, but are also waiting until they have a critical mass of members to vote.
The goal is to vote Friday night but that timeline could easily slip to Saturday.
Eleven House Republicans missed the vote on Friday morning and many are expected to leave town to participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference throughout the weekend, though members could always cancel their appearances if needed.
GOP Rep. Kevin Hern is expected to speak on Friday, but Hern’s office told CNN the Oklahoma Republican would be back in Washington DC later on Friday.
A number of other House GOP lawmakers are listed as speakers throughout the conference including GOP Reps. Chip Roy, Brandon Gill and Kat Cammack.
Trump: Senate-passed bill to fund DHS “wasn’t appropriate” and Congress needs to fund ICE
President Donald Trump was not happy with a bill the Senate passed overnight to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, saying in an interview that any legislation on DHS spending needs to fund federal immigration enforcement.
“Well, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t appropriate. Now, what they should do is they should terminate the filibuster, Jacqui, and just vote, but you have three or four Republicans in there that are not doing the right thing,” Trump told Fox News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson formally rejected the Senate GOP’s proposal to partially fund DHS today, and Trump made clear he supported that decision.
“In my opinion, you can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE. You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement, of which ICE is a big form, and so is Border Patrol,” he added.
Here's a look at long TSA lines at the airport outside Baltimore
Lines at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport stretched inside and out of the terminal today, with wait times reaching up to three hours:
CNN’s Pete Muntean reports from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport where security lines stretched inside and outside the terminal Friday, with waits reaching up to three hours. About 31,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport Friday, the busiest day so far this year, according to an airport spokesperson.
Johnson and Thune did communicate last night about Senate path forward
A source familiar with the dialogue tells CNN that Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson communicated about the Senate’s path forward last night, but clearly the two men ended up on very different sides of this issue.
Johnson’s sharp criticism of the Senate bill during his press conference Friday revealed a widening gulf between how Johnson and Thune are managing their chambers and contending with very different political pressures ahead of the midterm election. Up to this point, the GOP leaders have maintained a close working relationship as they sought to pass the president’s signature tax bill last summer, legislation that needed unified GOP support and could pass without a single Democrat. But in recent weeks, their paths have sharply diverged.
Johnson has had a far easier path to getting the president’s “SAVE America Act” through his chamber, while Thune has had to stave off deep conservative resentment that he can’t just unilaterally pass it, reminding the president and members alike that the votes are not there to kill the Senate filibuster.
Thune has tried to satisfy conservatives by orchestrating a weeks-long debate over the SAVE Act on the floor.
Thune has also had a tightrope to walk when it comes to spending bills. Thune needs Democrats to fund anything related to DHS hence why he engaged in weeks-long negotiations with them over reforms to ICE. Meanwhile, Johnson has been able to sit out of those talks but then found himself facing internal pressures from his conservatives not to get behind the Senate bill, a pressure that he yielded to Friday.
Trump again tells GOP to eliminate the filibuster as Congress struggles over DHS deal
President Donald Trump again encouraged congressional Republicans to “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and VOTE,” escalating pressure on his party as lawmakers remain divided over the long-standing rule and Congress is struggling over a deal to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
“The Republicans should TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and VOTE! Haven’t they had enough of this nonsense from the Radical Left Lunatics that are looking to destroy our Country,” the president wrote on Truth Social today.
A day earlier, Trump had similarly urged Senate Republicans to abolish the 60-vote threshold required to advance most legislation.
“When is ‘enough, enough’ for our Republican Senators. There comes a time when you must do what should have been done a long time ago, and something which the Lunatic Democrats will do on day one, if they ever get the chance. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and get our airports, and everything else, moving again,” Trump wrote on Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly argued that abolishing the filibuster is necessary to bypass gridlock and push through his key priorities, particularly as the government faces ongoing disruptions such as the partial shutdown.
Senate Republican leaders, including Majority Leader John Thune, have expressed concern about the long-term implications of eliminating the rule, warning it could backfire if Democrats regain control of the chamber. Thune has also pointed out he doesn’t have the votes to abolish it, as many Senate Republicans don’t support doing so.
Large crowds are a "huge" security concern at airports, expert says
Security risks could increase in airports as the partial government shutdown continues and TSA agents go unpaid, said Keith Jeffries, former federal security director for the Los Angeles International Airport.
“You have the large crowds, which absolutely creates that soft target for those bad people with bad intent,” Jeffries, who is now a vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, told CNN. “That’s a huge, huge concern.”
Beyond monitoring large crowds, Jeffries said TSA workers tasked with observing X-ray images and spotting dangerous items at security checkpoints may be distracted.
“How focused are they if they’re thinking about, how am I going to pay my next bills?” he said.
TSA workers should start receiving pay as early as Monday, DHS says
Transportation Security Administration employees should begin receiving paychecks as early as Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement today.
Roughly 61,000 TSA workers have missed two full paychecks and a partial one since DHS’ funding lapsed on February 14, leaving many of them struggling to pay for food, housing, gas, child care and other necessities. Hundreds have quit and thousands are calling out, causing massive security screening delays at airports around the country.
Workers have missed more than $1 billion in pay because of the shutdown, acting TSA administration Ha Nguyen McNeill testified at a House hearing on Wednesday.
“TSA officers are now losing their homes and cars, struggling to put food on the table, and are experiencing all-around financial catastrophe because of this extended shutdown, the 3rd they’ve experienced in just 6 months,” a DHS spokesperson said in the statement. “Travelers are facing record breaking wait times stretching hours and hours long causing missed flights, unnecessary delays, and booking headaches.”
President Donald Trump took executive action Friday, ordering newly confirmed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to resume paying TSA employees. Trump had indicated he would do so on Thursday evening as funding talks continued in the Senate.
Overnight, the Senate passed a funding bill for much of DHS, but House Republicans on Friday rejected that legislation, saying it would vote to fully fund the agency for eight weeks. Senate Democratic leader already indicated they would reject that plan.
In Fulton County, custodian of 2020 election ballots describes "chaos" at seizure
The second witness to take the stand at a federal court hearing over Fulton County election records described “chaos” on the January day the FBI seized hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots.
Fulton county officials have sued the Justice Department demanding that the records be returned.
Ché Alexander, the custodian of records from Fulton County, was at the scene when FBI agents arrived to seize records.
Alexander testified that when agents arrived, she asked them if they had “chain of custody form” with them, so they could go “box by box” as they obtained the records.
“They said ‘absolutely not,” Alexander testified.
“It was chaos,” she added, referring to what it was like on the scene.
Alexander was one of two witnesses called to testify Friday. The other was Ryan Macias, an election technology expert.
“I was dragged into all of this when they came to seize the ballots,” Alexander, a Fulton County clerk of courts, testified.
White House releases memo directing DHS to pay TSA agents despite shutdown
The White House released a memo today that directs the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration agents despite the ongoing partial shutdown.
“As President of the United States, I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” President Donald Trump wrote in the memo.
The executive action was vague about where the money would come from.
“Accordingly, I hereby direct the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law,” the memo reads.
TSA agents have missed several paychecks during the weekslong shutdown.
The memo was sent just minutes after House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly rejected the Senate-passed DHS funding bill, calling it “a joke” and saying that House Republicans will instead pass a short-term funding bill for the department. Senate Democratic leaders have already said that bill is dead on arrival in their chamber.
The DHS shutdown is likely to drag on. Here's where things stand right now
The Department of Homeland Security shutdown is expected to drag on as House GOP leaders reject a Senate-passed bill to fund a large part of the agency, including TSA.
Where things stand:
- Speaker Mike Johnson flatly rejected the Senate-passed bill, calling it “a joke,” and said House Republicans instead aim to pass their own version, which would be a short-term funding extension providing money for the full department — including ICE and Customs and Border Protection — through May 22. Senate Democrats have said that is a non-starter.
- While the Senate bill did not include reforms Democrats had pushed for, it also did not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — a key sticking point of the impasse.
- There is exasperation among Republicans who don’t want to swallow a deal with no funding for ICE without getting something in return. Some hardliners also want a separate voter ID bill before sending it back to the Senate.
- Meantime, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus will do “whatever is necessary” to get TSA workers paid, and appeared open to backing a procedural vote to expedite this process if GOP leaders were to put the Senate bill on the floor.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned a short-term extension would be “dead on arrival in the Senate.”
What’s at stake:
- The Senate has left town for a two-week recess, meaning any changes the House makes to the legislation would drastically complicate its path toward final passage.
- If the legislation fails, TSA workers, civilian Coast Guard employees and FEMA employees will go unpaid for a third consecutive pay period.
- Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced he would order the DHS to pay TSA employees, but its unclear how quickly that will be carried out.
Impacts:
- Long lines greeted travelers before dawn at some airport security checkpoints across the country, including at Baltimore-Washington International Airport where lines snaked outside along the curb as passengers wait to get into the terminal.
- Flight delays at many US airports also increased significantly during the shutdown, data from aviation tracking firm Cirium shows.
CNN’s Sarah Ferris, Annie Grayer, Andi Babineau and Lauren Fox contributed reporting to this post.
Johnson says Trump supports the House GOP rejecting Senate's DHS bill, prolonging shutdown
Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that President Donald Trump is on board with the plan to formally reject the Senate GOP’s proposal to partially fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The House Republican leader told reporters he just got off the phone with Trump to brief him on the House GOP’s plan to reject the Senate-passed DHS funding measure that does not include funding for border patrol or immigration enforcement.
Johnson also said that Trump is moving ahead with his plans to pay Transportation Security Administration workers through executive order, rather than waiting on Congress to land a deal.
“That machinery is in process right now. Office of Management and Budget is working through that to make sure it happens,” Johnson said of Trump’s push to unilaterally fund TSA.
