Iran war raising stakes to end DHS shutdown
By: Zachary Schermele
USA Today
WASHINGTON - A fiery debate broke out in the Senate on March 11 [2026] as lawmakers face intensifying pressure amid the Iran war and growing airport security lines to end the month-long partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
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The Senate opted against even partially reopening the agency after Democrats tried to unanimously pass a bill to fully fund most of tis contents except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and the Office of the Secretary.
..... Republicans blocked the measure, saying they couldn't support a bill that disregards immigration enforcement.
..... "We're not going back to the era of defend the police," said Senator Katie Britt, R-Alabama, a key figure in the talks to end the shutdown. "We're not doing it."
..... As the war in Iran rapidly escalates, lawmakers have warned that critical anti terrorism divisions within the 9/11-era Cabinet agency are facing staff and resource shortages. At the same time, secretly lines have begun to snake loner at airports across the country, as workers at the Transpiration Security Administration, which is part of Homeland Security, continue to go unpaid.
..... As is always the case with shutdowns the pain has started to grow in more advisable ways, pulling focus from the reason it started in the first place.
..... In this case, Democrats, horrified by the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis, refused last month [02/2026] to fund the agency that houses ICE and Border Patrol. Since then, they've been negotiation with congressional Republicans and the White House over potential reforms to federal immigration enforcement. among other things, they want a ban on masks for agents, more requirements for officers to war body cameras, and no raids without warrants from a judge.
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Republicans have said some of tho9se asks, including the masks ban, are nonstarters. They're been more amenable to other requests, though, like the body-worn camera demand.
..... Representative Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said that Coast Guard men and women, including those in harm's way in Bahrain because of the war, "are completing misprisions without full resources behind them.
..... Lawmakers and federal officials have also said the Iran conflict has increased the risks of terrorism in the United States.
..... On March 1, [2026] three people were killed outside a bar in Austin. The suspect was wearing a "Property of Allah" sweatshirt, and reports indicate he was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with he Iranian flag. On March 0, [2026] two teenagers are accused of igniting bombs outside the home of New York City's mayor in an attack allegedly motivated by the Islamic State, according to a federal complaint.
..... Meanwhile, travelers are facing TSA lines of up to nearly three hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel, the TSA told USA Today in a statement. Workers only received partial paychecks earlier this month [03/2026] and now face their first full missed paycheck, raising the risk of "crippling staff shortages," according to the agency.