March 24, 2026
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) dismissed a proposal from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) to suspend Senate rules and advance a bill through the Rules Committee to fund TSA, labeling it as a “convoluted” attempt to bypass the Senate Appropriations Committee.
While travelers are left stranded in miles-long lines at major U.S. airports, President Donald Trump and the administration are blaming Democratic leaders for it, but it was actually Senate Republicans who rejected a bill to get Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents paid and back on track, The Hill reports.
After Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) pushed an unorthodox move to suspend Senate rules and advance a bill through the Rules Committee to fund TSA on March 21, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) dismissed the proposal, labeling it as a “convoluted” attempt to bypass the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Ultimately, the motion failed to pass with 60 votes and was voted 41 to 49. “This is a Schumer motion to suspend the rules and refer the House message, the bill that we’re on, to the Rules Committee, which doesn’t have jurisdiction over appropriations or spending, and he’s trying to call it a vote to fund TSA?” Thune said.
“I don’t know how you come up with this. I will give you credit for coming up with something that’s convoluted, but it doesn’t do anything that the [Democratic] leader says it does.”
A report from Now This Impact highlights the six other attempts from the blue party. First, on March 5, when Sen. Patty Murray (WA) introduced a bill to fund all agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including FEMA and the Secret Service. Days later, she introduced a revised bill.
Then, Sen. Raphael Warnock (GA) introduced legislation that would pay them during negotiations on March 18, just after Sen. Jacky Rosen (NV) made similar notions days prior. Sens. Elissa Slotkin (MI) and Brian Schatz (HI) made other attempts.
GOP leaders blocked all.
And it looks like it may stay that way, as their fearless leader made the bold statement that he’s not trying to make a deal— not without something in return.
In a post to his Truth Social app, Trump said he has no interest in making a deal with Democrats “unless, and until” they vote in support of the SAVE America Act. “It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate,” the president added, according to The New Republic.
Instead, his idea was to order ICE agents to deploy at airports on March 23 to assist with security lines, a move that has allegedly caused even more chaos so far.
Guess no good deed goes unpunished, right?
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