Johnson turns up heat on Schumer as DHS shutdown drags on, airport delays mount

By Fox News · Fox News

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is ratcheting up pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats in the upper chamber as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown creeps into a sixth week with no end in sight. House GOP leaders are poised to hold votes Thursday on a pair of bills aimed at putting Democrats on the spot for the shutdown, Fox News Digital has learned. Johnson is having the House vote for a third time on funding DHS through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The bill is based on a bipartisan deal struck earlier this year, but Democrats walked away from it en masse in protest of President Donald Trump's strategy to crack down on illegal immigration. The second measure is a nonbinding resolution led by Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., expressing support for all agencies under DHS's purview. DHS SHUTDOWN TIED FOR SECOND-LONGEST EVER AS DEMS AGAIN BLOCK FUNDING AMID AIRPORT CHAOS, TERRORISM CONCERNS It comes as the DHS shutdown, now in its 38th day, is wreaking havoc for airline travelers across the country. Major airports in Houston, New Orleans, New York City, and other areas are seeing hours-long delays caused by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortages, with scores of TSA agents calling out of work amid missed paychecks due to the shutdown. TSA agents are poised to miss their paychecks this Friday, the second full pay period missed of the ongoing shutdown. The TSA is one of several agencies that operate under DHS, along with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among others. EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO HOLD HEARING ON DHS SHUTDOWN RISKS AMID TRAVEL SURGE "Anyone waiting for hours just to miss their flights will not soon forget, and Republicans are going to continue reminding Americans that it’s the Democrats putting their safety at risk just to p…