WASHINGTON — After weeks of delay, the House voted Thursday to fund much of the Department of Homeland Security, but not its immigration enforcement operations, and send the bipartisan package to President Trump to sign, ending the longest agency shutdown in history.
The White House had warned that temporary funding Trump had tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other agency personnel would “soon run out,” and that sparked new threats of airport disruptions.
DHS has been without routine funds since Feb. 14, causing hardship for workers, though much of Trump’s immigration agenda that is central to the dispute is being funded separately.
“It is about damn time,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, who proposed the bill more than 70 days ago.
The House swiftly voted by voice, without a formal roll call, to pass the measure.
The House’s narrow Republican majority has repeatedly stalled out under House Speaker Mike Johnson, with his own party tangled in internal disputes on a range of pending issues, including the homeland security funding. While the Senate unanimously approved the bipartisan package a month ago, the bill languished in the House.
Democrats refused to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol without changes to those operations after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents during protests against an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Republicans would no go along with a plan pushed by Democrats to fund TSA and the other parts of DHS without the money for ICE and Border Patrol.
To break the impasse, Republicans in both the House and Senate decided to tackle the immigration enforcement funding on their own through what is called budget reconciliation, a cumbersome weekslong process ahead.
By beginning that budget process Johnson, R-La., was able to unlock a broader bipartisan bill for TSA agents and the rest of DHS. House Republicans late Wednesday adopted budget resolution on a largely party-line vote, 215-211, that is focused on eventually providing $70 billion for immigration enforcement and deportations for the remainder of Trump’s time in office and ensure Democrats can no longer block funding. Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
One key Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, said isolating the immigration-related money on a separate track is “offensive to the men and women who serve in ICE and Border Patrol, and are serving this country every single day.”
Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON — The White House is warning Congress that funding to pay Department of Homeland Security personnel will “soon run out,” sparking new threats of airport disruptions and national security concerns as the House slow-walks legislation to end what has been the longest-ever lapse in agency funding.
In a memo late Tuesday to lawmakers, the Office of Management and Budget said money that President Trump tapped to pay Transportation Security Administration and other workers through executive actions will be exhausted by May. It called on the House to quickly approve the budget resolution senators approved in an all-night session last week that would pave the way for full funding for the department.
“DHS will soon run out of critical operating funds, placing essential personnel and operations at risk,” the memo said.
The pressure from the Trump administration could help House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose narrow Republican majority has been stalled out, tangled in internal party disputes on a range of pending issues, including the Homeland Security funding. They have left the chamber at a virtual standstill.
The House was expected to vote as soon as Wednesday on the Senate budget resolution that is designed to unlock a multistep process to eventually fund the department. But by midday, House action again screeched to a halt. The administration has warned GOP lawmakers off making changes that could prolong passage.
“Restoring funding for the Department of Homeland Security has never been more urgent, as demonstrated by recent events,” the memo said, a nod to the situation over the weekend when a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the annual White House correspondents’ dinner that Trump, the vice president and top Cabinet officials were attending.
Homeland Security has been operating without regular funds for more than two months after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without changes to those operations after the deaths of Americans protesting Trump’s deportation agenda.
While immigration enforcement workers have largely been paid through the flush of new cash — some $170 billion — that Congress approved as part of Trump’s tax cuts bill last year, others, including TSA, have had to rely on Trump’s intervention through executive action to ensure their paychecks.
But with salaries topping $1.6 billion every two weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently, those funds are drying up.
More than 1,000 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, according to Airlines for America, the U.S. airlines trade group that called Wednesday on Congress to fully fund the agency.
“The urgency to provide predictable and stable funding for TSA is growing stronger by the day,” the group said in a statement. “Time and time again, our nation’s aviation workers and customers have been the victim of Congress’ failure to do their jobs.”
House and Senate Republicans have embarked on a go-it-alone strategy, attempting to approve funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without Democrats. They want to provide $70 billion for those immigration operations for the remainder of Trump’s term to ensure no further interruptions.
It’s a cumbersome process, the same that was used last year to approve Trump’s tax cuts bill, that will play out over several weeks.
The Senate launched the process last week, and is now waiting on the House to act. Once that budget resolution is approved, both the House and Senate are expected to draft the actual funding bill, a process that can take weeks.
In the meantime, Johnson is next expected to quickly turn this week to legislation that would fund the other parts of Homeland Security, including TSA, the Coast Guard and other agencies.
That bipartisan bill has support from Democrats and already passed the Senate a month ago, when Republicans reluctantly agreed to carve out the immigration-related funds that Democrats had opposed. But it has been stalled out in the House, as Republicans in that chamber disagreed with the Senate’s approach.
Mascaro writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
The AIG Women’s Open has increased its prize fund for a sixth successive year despite not being a profitable tournament to stage.
This year’s championship, which is being held from 30 July – 2 August at Royal Lytham & St Annes on the Lancashire coast, will have a record purse of $10m (£7.4m).
It is not the only one of the five annual women’s majors taking advantage of sponsorship deals to offer increasing prize money. The US Women’s Open – which last year had the largest prize fund in the women’s game at $12m – has the backing of Ally Financial.
“At the moment it’s not profitable,” said R&A chief executive Mark Darbon.
“We treat it as an investment into the game, but an absolutely critical investment.
“Our focus actually is around audience growth. We think if we’re going to be true to that notion of inspiring millions of people around the world, we need to grow the audience for this championship and the women’s game more broadly.”
Around 50,000 spectators are expected to attend across the week of what will be the 50th Women’s Open, while Darbon pointed to increased television coverage as a way of boosting the game’s profile.
The $10m prize fund lags behind the $17m shared out between the players at last year’s Open Championship and while Darbon would like to see that levelled in the future, he said the R&A had to “think sustainably”.
“There is a commercial reality. We’re investing collectively, AIG and the R&A, significant sums into the championship, and we want to do that in a responsible way.
“So we’re not in a position to have equal prize funds at the moment, but we will look to continue to elevate our prize fund over time.
“We want to reward the stars of our sport. We have to do that in a sustainable fashion.”
Darbon said it would be possible to make the championship profitable by cutting back on the spend but that was not on his agenda.
“If profitability was our number one ambition for this event, there are a number of things we could do to put us on a path to achieving that result.
“At the moment, profitability is not a principal target for us. We want to deliver brilliant venues and a wonderful experience for the players.
“We want to have a meaningful and growing prize pot, and we want to deliver a spectator experience both live and through broadcast and digital channels that inspires and excites people.”
Darbon also announced that the 2028 Women’s Open would be held at Sunningdale’s Old Course in Surrey.
Unlike the men’s Open Championship, the women’s visits inland courses as well as links courses on the coast.
“The Open and Women’s Open have their own discrete identities,” he said.
“We don’t treat them as one, and therefore we don’t treat the venue selection process as one either.
“We are very focused on taking this event to what we regard as some of the world’s very best courses.”
An industry group representing budget airlines such as Frontier has asked the Department of Transportation to create a $2.5 billion pool of money to help its member airlines because the price of jet fuel has nearly doubled since February, endangering their ability to stay in business. File Photo by CJ Gunther/EPA-EFE
April 27 (UPI) — An industry group that represents budget airlines has reached out to the Department of Transportation about creating a $2.5 billion pool to help keep them in business as the price of jet fuel remains high.
The Association of Value Airlines — which represents Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country — said Monday that it has approached the Trump administration about the pool because an 88% increase in the cost of jet fuel is endangering their ability to do business, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported.
Spirit Airlines itself has been negotiating a possible $500 million bailout from the federal government after warning that it is running out of cash that is separate from the AVA request.
Airlines worldwide started raising fees in March after the United States and Israel started the war in Iran, which led the country to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in response and has caused the price of gas and oil to increase significantly.
Fuel expenses account for about 30% of airline operating costs and even a sustained $1 increase in per barrel of oil can increase those costs by millions of dollars.
“Since February, jet fuel prices have increased by nearly 100% and are placing significant financial pressure on value airlines,” the industry group said in a statement.
It also said that the “liquidity pool” would be used “exclusively” to offset fuel costs that are expected to stay above $4 per gallon in North America for the rest of the year.
The AVA also has approached Congress about waiting a 7.5% excise tax and $5.30 per-segment fee that airlines pay the government for each passenger they transport for the same reason it asked the administration for the emergency pool.
President Donald Trump acknowledged last week that Spirit has been in conversation with his administration for a bailout as it has struggled to exit its second bankruptcy filing in a year.
Trump said that the discussions are ongoing, but that he would like to help keep Spirit in business because competition is good for consumers and he is concerned about job losses should it go out of business.
Kobe Bryant rookie trading cards aren’t particularly rare. And because rarity equates to value, standard issue 1997 cards featuring the late Lakers great retail for a pedestrian $100 to $300.
Then there are 1997 Kobe Bryant Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green cards, which just by typing that highfalutin name can give even the most savvy collector goose bumps.
The key word is green. Most Bryant rookie Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems cards have a red background and fetch around $300,000. Only 10 were made with a metallic green background and only three have been graded by respected grading firm Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA).
So green translates to greenbacks. Alt, a company that enables users to sell, buy and securely store collectible cards, announced Thursday it purchased one of those — take a breath first — 1997 Kobe Bryant Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Green cards in a private transaction for $3.15 million.
The company said on Instagram that the purchase makes it the most expensive Bryant card ever sold, eclipsing the previous record of $2.4 million set in September. Another copy of the same card sold for $2 million in 2022.
“It was on every collector’s wall, in every price guide, at the top of every wish list,” Alt CEO Leore Avidar Avidar said on Alt’s Instagram page. “Acquiring it for our fund is personal, but it’s also a reflection of where this market has gone.”
The image of Bryant in midair passing — not shooting! — highlights the card, which earned a PSA 5 grade.
The card adds to Alt’s impressive collection. The fund set price records at time of purchase for LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo cards in addition to the one of Bryant.
The most paid for a sports trading card was $12.932 million for a 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs signed card featuring Bryant and Michael Jordan last fall. The purchase was made by investor and “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary along with veteran collectors Matt Allen and Paul Warshaw and surpassed the previous record of $12.6 million held by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card.
The Bryant/Jordan card is the second-most expensive sports collectible of all time behind Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series “called shot” jersey, which sold for $24.12 million in 2024.
High-end Bryant cards remain coveted by collectors. Allen, well known in the industry as Shyne150, privately spent $4 million on two Bryant 1-of-1 signed Panini Flawless Logoman cards.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s treasurer refused Thursday to approve payments for more than $1 million in security systems and other upgrades to the private home of Gov. Josh Shapiro, changes that were made after an intruder set fire to the state-owned governor’s residence last year in an attempt to kill the Democrat.
The treasurer, Republican Stacy Garrity, said there is no legal authorization to use taxpayer dollars to reimburse contractors for the security upgrades on private property, even the private home of a governor.
The Pennsylvania State Police submitted the reimbursement requests to the Treasury Department but “appear to have simply ignored the statutory limits and restrictions on spending and procurement,” Garrity said during a news conference in her offices.
The state police agency has other options to get taxpayer dollars to underwrite the work, which has already been done. The agency could ask lawmakers to explicitly authorize the payments or enter the state’s settlement process for disputes between contractors and state agencies, Garrity said.
Shapiro, who is considered a potential top-tier contender for the White House in the 2028 presidential election, is running for reelection this year for a second term as governor. After last year’s attack, he emerged as a prominent voice in condemning political violence.
Garrity is expected to be Shapiro’s main opponent in the fall election. She is both endorsed by the state GOP and uncontested for the GOP nomination in Pennsylvania’s May 19 primary election.
The treasurer said the decision wasn’t political and that “I don’t play these kind of political games.”
But Shapiro’s office blasted Garrity’s decision as a “shameful political action without legal basis” and said the state police was exploring options to ensure it protects its authority and that the contractors get paid.
“The Treasurer should put partisanship aside, follow the law, and show some humanity for a family that has experienced real trauma, the state troopers who protect them every day, and the vendors and workers who the treasurer has now refused to pay,” the governor’s office said in a written statement.
Garrity said the security and well-being of public officials and their families is of the “utmost importance” to her and that “an attack on the governor is an attack on all of us.”
Still, she said, her department does not have the legal authority to issue the payments.
The security upgrades at Shapiro’s home were something of a secret until his administration informed lawmakers about them in a letter last fall. In it, the Cabinet official in charge of state property told lawmakers that “the threat to a high-profile elected official like Governor Shapiro does not end when he leaves the Governor’s Residence.”
State officials haven’t detailed those upgrades, citing safety reasons. Shapiro, his wife and two of his four children still live in the private residence, in Abington, a Philadelphia suburb.
However, plans for a security fence there spawned dueling lawsuits between the Shapiros and a neighbor over who rightfully owns a sliver of land abutting the two properties.
So far, the Treasury Department said Thursday it has paid more than $26 million in security upgrades and remediations at the governor’s state-owned residence in Harrisburg, where the Shapiros often stay. Those renovations included an “anti-climb” iron fence that is much higher than the one scaled by the intruder, Cody Balmer.
Balmer last year pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Shapiro. Under a plea deal, Balmer was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison, far less than he could have faced if the case had gone to trial.
He climbed over a 7-foot iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded two state troopers stationed at the residence and used beer bottles filled with gasoline to set fire to the residence, just hours after Shapiro had hosted a Passover Seder to celebrate the first night of the Jewish holiday.
The fire forced Shapiro, his wife, children and members of his extended family to flee, as firefighters battled the blaze. The residence, built in the 1960s along the Susquehanna River about 2 miles north of the state Capitol, was badly damaged but has since been renovated.
Levy writes for the Associated Press.
April 23 (UPI) — Senate Republicans were up all night voting, eventually adopting a budget reconciliation package Thursday morning to prepare to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The Senate plans to fund the department without Democrats’ help. The resolution was adopted at around 3:30 a.m. EDT Thursday by a vote of 50-48 after about six hours.
The only Republicans to vote against the resolution were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky. The bill now goes to the House. If the House adopts the resolution, the final funding bill can be written and voted on by Congress.
They are following a deadline of June 1 set by President Donald Trump.
“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America’s borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-N.D.
Thune told fellow senators to keep the package narrow to ensure speedy passage.
Since the January deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, both shot and killed by DHS officers, Democrats have refused to support funding the department without reforms. The department has been shut down since Feb, 14, though Trump told the department to use emergency funds to pay essential workers.
Just before the Easter recess, the Senate passed a bill that would fund most of DHS but not ICE and Border Patrol. But the House rejected it.
Republicans are hoping to fund the department through 2029 at a cost of between $70 and $80 billion.
The late-night vote-a-rama included votes about amendments that could be added to the resolution. Two Republican Senators who are vulnerable in the November elections — Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska — broke ranks on some amendments.
Collins and Sullivan voted for amendments to lower health care costs, to reverse last year’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts and to tackle insurance companies that delay or deny medical care. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., joined with Collins and Sullivan on the latter.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also sponsored an amendment that would tell the budget committee chair to help cut prescription drug prices by half. Hawley, Collins and Sullivan supported Sanders on it. Sanders said his amendment would codify ensuring that Americans wouldn’t pay more for prescriptions than Canadians or Europeans.
The amendments wouldn’t have the power to force Republicans’ hands, but they would make Republicans go on record about their views of these items.
“This reconciliation, or this budget act, will show who’s on whose side, and clearly if Republicans vote against our amendments, they’re not on the side of the American people,” Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox and Friends on Tuesday that the department will run out of money for salaries next month.
“I’ve got one payroll left, and there is no more emergency funds so the president can’t do another executive order because there’s no more money there,” The Hill reported he said.
The resolution does not include the SAVE America Act, the voter security bill that Trump and other Republicans have pushed for. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., sponsored an amendment to add similar restrictions, but it failed 48-50. Collins, Murkowski, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-S.C., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voted against it.
Norway is preparing to lift restrictions preventing its $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund from investing in government bonds issued by Syria.
The move follows the political transition after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose government has been seeking economic recovery and international reintegration after more than a decade of war and sanctions.
At the same time, Norway plans to newly restrict investments in bonds issued by Iran, aligning with ongoing international sanctions.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, plays a major role in global financial markets. Its investment decisions often influence broader investor behaviour.
The updated policy removes Syria from the exclusion list for government bonds while adding Iran, reflecting changing geopolitical and sanctions dynamics.
Although the fund does not currently hold investments in Middle Eastern government bonds, the policy shift opens the door for future allocations and signals a reassessment of risk and legitimacy.
Norway’s decision represents a notable step toward Syria’s re-entry into the global financial system. It comes alongside other developments, including the restoration of Syria’s financial links with international institutions after years of isolation.
The move also highlights a divergence in how states are being treated: while Syria is gradually being reintegrated, Iran remains economically isolated due to continued tensions and sanctions.
As one of the world’s most influential sovereign investors, Norway’s stance could encourage other countries and institutions to reconsider their own restrictions on Syria.
The decision reflects a broader recalibration of international economic engagement based on political change and shifting strategic priorities. By opening the possibility of investment in Syrian bonds, Norway is signalling cautious confidence in the new government’s direction and stability.
At the same time, the move remains largely symbolic in the short term. The wealth fund has no immediate exposure to Syrian debt, and actual investment will depend on risk assessments, market conditions, and institutional safeguards.
More importantly, the policy underscores how financial tools are increasingly used as instruments of foreign policy. Inclusion or exclusion from global capital markets can legitimise governments, incentivise reforms, or reinforce isolation.
In Syria’s case, gradual financial reintegration could support reconstruction and economic recovery, but it also raises questions about governance, transparency, and long-term stability after years of conflict.
With information from Reuters.
A US musician has revealed he’s been scammed out of his entire £300,000 retirement fund in a shocking blow.
Singer G Love revealed that he had accidentally installed some malicious software onto his computer which resulted in scammers taking all of his cash.
The performer took to X – formerly Twitter – to speak out on the incident that saw his entire retirement fund stolen.
He wrote: “I had a really tough day today I lost my retirement fund in a hack/Scam when I switched my @Ledger over to my new computer and by accident downloaded a malicious ledger app from the @Apple store.
“All my BTC gone in an instant.”
The singer appeared to be referring to his bitcoin investments in the tweet.
One of his fans replied to confirm they had reported his issue to the Ledger app.
Ledger is an app known to be used for storing cryptocurrency.
He further went on to add: “I lost 5.9 BTC all I had for ten years I worked on this f*** be careful out there.”
5.9 BTC can be converted to work out at approximately £300,000.
G Love is best known for being the frontman for the band G. Love & Special Sauce.
The 53-year-old has been in the music industry since the early 90s.
He has released various albums as part of the band as well as being a soloist.
He continues to regularly perform gigs and appear at festivals and events across America.
Source: Citizens Advice
Online shopping scams 26%
Investment scams 18%
Other financial scams 18%
A friend or family member needs help scams 16%
Mobile network scams 14%
Ares Management plans ~$20B private credit fund – report
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A broker for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a large investment in major defense firms in the lead-up to the Iran war, according to the Financial Times. The Pentagon has dismissed the report.
The FT reported Tuesday that
SA Asks: What happens if the Medicare Hospital Insurance fund runs dry?
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WASHINGTON — Senators raced Tuesday to clinch an emerging proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown by funding much of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration airport workers going without pay, but excluding ICE enforcement operations that have been core to the dispute.
The sudden sense of urgency comes as U.S. airports are snarled by long security lines, with travelers being told to arrive hours before their flights in Houston, Atlanta and Baltimore Washington International. Routine Homeland Security funding was halted in mid-February ahead of the busy spring travel season. Nearly 11% of TSA workers — more than 3,200 — missed work Monday, and at least 458 have have quit altogether since the shutdown began, according to Homeland Security.
Democrats are refusing to fund the department without restraints on Trump’s immigration and deportation agenda after agents killed two citizens in Minneapolis.
A potential breakthrough came late Monday, after a group of Republican senators met at the White House with President Trump after his decision to deploy federal immigration officers at some airport security checkpoints — a move some lawmakers warned could lead to heightened tensions.
“All I can say is that the discussions have been very positive and productive, and hopefully headed in the right direction,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) late Monday evening.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sounded a similarly hopeful tone: “Both sides are working in a serious way.”
Next steps in Congress could move quickly, if lawmakers can reach a deal, or sputter out just as fast.
The contours of the deal under consideration would fund most of Homeland Security, but not one main part of ICE — the enforcement and removal operations that are core to Trump’s deportation agenda.
Under the proposal being floated, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations would be funded as well as Customs and Border Protection. But that would come with guardrails — keeping officers from those divisions in their traditional roles, rather than deploying them in urban immigration roundups.
The plan would also include a number of changes in immigration operations that Democrats have demanded, including mandating that officers wear body cameras and identification. The ICE officers manning airports are already going without face-covering masks, another key demand Democrats want as part of any deal.
Since so much of ICE is already funded through Trump’s big tax breaks bill, and immigration officers are still receiving paychecks despite the shutdown, senators said the new restraints would also be imposed on operations that rely on that funding source, as well.
Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, a chief negotiator, returned from the White House meeting hopeful they had a solution to “land this plane.”
Both chambers of Congress are controlled by the Republican president’s party, and any deal reached in the Senate would also have to be approved by the House.
Key to the standoff appears to have been the senators’ ability to shift the president’s attention off his plan to link any department funding to his push to pass the so-called SAVE America Act, a strict proof-of-citizenship and voter ID bill that has stalled in the Senate ahead of the midterm elections.
Over the weekend Trump injected his demand for the voting bill as a condition for ending the funding standoff. Some GOP senators have pitched the idea of tackling it in the months ahead as part of a broader legislative package the party could pass on its own, similar to last year’s big tax cuts bill.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) who was not part of the group at the White House, said his understanding was that there was a “sense of urgency” coming from the talks as the airport disruptions worsen.
Senators are expected to discuss the proposals during their private caucus lunches Tuesday afternoon. “First step is to get the proposal in writing,” said Sen. Angus King, an Independent from Maine. “I want to see exactly what that means.”
The deal could provide a political exit from the standoff over the embattled Homeland Security department, which was stood up in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but has come to symbolize Trump’s aggressive mass deportation agenda, with its goal of removing 1 million immigrants this year.
Under mounting political pressure, Trump ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid the public outcry over the immigration operations, and senators late Monday confirmed one of their own, Markwayne Mullin, as the president’s handpicked replacement.
Mullin, an Oklahoma senator who aligns with Trump’s agenda, provides a potentially new face for the department. During his confirmation hearing, Mullin touched on another key demand of Democrats — ensuring a judge has signed off on warrants that immigration officers use to search people’s homes, rather than simply relying on administrative warrants issued by the department.
“This is significant,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said about the progress toward changes. “Noem is gone. That’s a big deal.”
ICE’s budget nearly tripled under last year’s bill, to $75 billion, which has been untouched by the shutdown. Rather its routine annual funding, some $10 billion, would be cut almost in half under the proposal.
After weeks of missed paychecks, many TSA agents have called in sick or even quit their jobs as financial strains pile up. Union leaders representing the workers have pushed Congress to reach a deal.
Mascaro and Cappelletti write for the Associated Press. AP writers Rio Yamat, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Kevin Freking and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
March 15 (UPI) — A group of aviation CEOs sent a letter to Congress asking it to end the partial government shutdown and pay TSA, customs and air traffic controllers, as they said the overwhelming number of Americans wants them to.
Airlines for America, a trade association for passenger and cargo airlines, sent an open letter to Congress asking it to fund the Department of Homeland Security so that government employees at airports responsible for the safety of air travel receive their salaries.
This is the second time in six months that the federal government has at least been partially shutdown and follows a 43-day shutdown of nearly all of the government that was the longest in U.S. history.
The letter includes a plea to end the shutdown, on behalf of travel and shipping services that are essential to the nation, and to pass laws that guarantee air traffic controllers, customs agents and TSA agents all continue to be paid in the event of future shutdowns.
“Americans — who live in your districts and home states — are tired of long lines at airports, travel delays and flight cancellations caused by shutdown after shutdown,” the CEOs wrote in the letter. “Yet, once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown.”
The CEO’s who sign the letter include those from Alaska Air, American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, UPS and Airlines for America.
The CEO’s predict that with spring break, the World Cup, America’s 250th birthday and anything else that an expected 171 million passengers will travel for in the coming months, the chaos similar during the shutdown last fall is likely to happen again.
“TSA agents just received $0 paychecks,” they wrote in the letter. “That is simply unacceptable. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.”
Last year’s shutdown was ended when Congress agreed to fund the government through Jan. 30, with plans to pass appropriations bills to then fund the government through the rest of the year.
Amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, after the deaths of two U.S. citizens in three weeks at the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Control agents, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress held back an appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
While the agencies handling the administration controversial crackdown are under DHS, the department also is responsible for the Transportation Security Administration, which handles air travel.
Democrats have refused to vote for the funding until guardrails are put in place with the funding for the department’s immigration enforcement efforts, including limits and certain tactics and requiring officials in the field to wear body cameras.
TSA employees missed their first paycheck of the current shutdown this weekend, after Republicans refused a proposal to fund TSA, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, while continuing to hold back funding for those for immigration-related agencies for further debate.
In addition asking the government to fund TSA, the CEOs asked Congress to pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act, the Aviation Funding Stability Act and the Keep America Flying Act would guarantee that federal aviation workers get paid in the face of future government shutdowns.
A dispute over the city of Los Angeles’ eviction defense program came to an end Tuesday when the City Council approved millions of dollars in funding for the next 15 months.
The program, Stay Housed L.A., started in 2021 and provides thousands of renters with legal representation in eviction proceedings as well as other services.
Tenant advocates feared that the new contract, which passed 12 to 1 and funds an initial portion of a three-year, $177-million contract, was under threat after City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto urged the council to reconsider it in a confidential memo last week.
Feldstein Soto said she had concerns about awarding such a large contract to Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, which frequently sues the city over homelessness issues.
Legal Aid is the main legal service provider under the Stay Housed L.A. contract, which also funds Southern California Housing Rights Center for short-term emergency rental assistance, Liberty Hill Foundation for tenant outreach and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy to protect tenants from harassment.
The city’s Housing Department had recommended a three-year contract, but the council opted for a shorter period that can be extended.
Legal Aid has argued that its lawsuits against the city are unrelated to its eviction defense work under the Stay Housed L.A. contract.
“We are very relieved that our services can continue uninterrupted,” said Barbara Schultz, director of housing justice for Legal Aid, in an interview after the vote.
Feldstein Soto, who is running for reelection, said in a statement that her office wanted to make sure the city wasn’t giving a “blank check” to Legal Aid without requiring detailed reporting of finances and outcomes.
“The eviction defense program is a city program and is in zero jeopardy,” she said. “What is in question is a $177-million blank check to [Legal Aid] and its partners without the reports and invoice review that is required by law. That is an amount that exceeds the budget of numerous city departments.”
On Tuesday, the City Council added a requirement that the nonprofits in the program provide “performance metrics” including the number of tenants served, case outcomes and demographic data.
Schultz said that Legal Aid already provides monthly data to the city.
John Lee was the only councilmember who voted against the new contract, saying he was not comfortable with the new “transparency requirements.”
Since its inception, Stay Housed L.A. has opened about 26,000 cases overall, providing full representation for 6,150 cases and working on nearly 20,000 “limited scope” cases, according to data from Legal Aid. The original contract, which is set to lapse at the end of the month, was for about $90 million.
The program is funded by Measure ULA, the “mansion tax” passed by city voters in 2022. On Tuesday, the council included a provision that would allow it to cease funding the eviction defense program if Measure ULA were overturned.
