White House says funds for Homeland Security will ‘soon run out’

The White House warned Congress Tuesday that funding to pay Department of Homeland Security personnel will “soon run out,” intensifying concerns about potential airport disruptions and national security risks as the House delays legislation needed to end the longest-ever lapse in agency funding.

In a memo to lawmakers, the Office of Management and Budget stated that money President Donald Trump tapped through executive actions to pay Transportation Security Administration and other workers will be exhausted by May. The administration urged the House to swiftly approve the budget resolution that senators passed during an all-night session last week, which would pave the way for full funding of the department.

“DHS will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk,” the memo emphasized.

This pressure from the Trump administration may provide needed momentum for House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose narrow Republican majority has been mired in internal party disputes on various pending issues, including Homeland Security funding. These disagreements have brought the chamber to a virtual standstill.

The House is expected to vote as early as Wednesday on the Senate budget resolution designed to unlock a multi-step process to fund the department. The administration cautioned Republican lawmakers against making changes that could delay passage.

“Restoring funding for the Department of Homeland Security has never been more urgent, as demonstrated by recent events,” the memo stated, referencing the weekend incident where an armed man attempted to storm the annual White House correspondents’ dinner attended by Trump, the vice president, and top Cabinet officials.

Homeland Security has operated without regular funding for more than two months. The funding lapse began when Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without operational changes following deaths of Americans who were protesting Trump’s deportation policies.

While immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through approximately $170 billion in new funding that Congress approved as part of Trump’s tax cuts bill last year, other agencies, including TSA, have relied on Trump’s executive actions to ensure continued paychecks. However, with DHS salaries totaling approximately $1.6 billion every two weeks according to Secretary Markwayne Mullin, these emergency funds are rapidly depleting.

House and Senate Republicans have developed a partisan strategy to approve funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without Democratic support. They aim to provide $70 billion for these immigration operations for the remainder of Trump’s term to prevent further interruptions.

This approach involves a complex budget process—the same mechanism used last year to approve Trump’s tax cuts—that will unfold over several weeks. The Senate initiated this process last week and now awaits House action. Once the budget resolution passes both chambers, they will draft the actual funding legislation, which could take additional weeks to complete.

Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson is expected to pivot quickly this week to legislation funding other parts of Homeland Security, including TSA, the Coast Guard, and various agencies. This bipartisan bill, which already passed the Senate a month ago, has support from Democrats. The Senate version strategically separated immigration-related funding that Democrats opposed, but the bill has stalled in the House as Republicans disagreed with the Senate’s approach.

The funding crisis highlights the continued partisan divide over immigration policy that has complicated efforts to maintain essential national security functions. The White House’s warning underscores the real-world consequences of congressional inaction, particularly for frontline security personnel working without regular paychecks and the potential impacts on transportation security and other critical operations.