Editorial: No breaks for Congress until TSA funded

Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, The Baltimore Sun on Mar 26, 2026

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Whatever modest help is provided by the Trump administration’s decision to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to help reduce lines at airport security this week, it’s time Congress approved at least a stopgap measure to fund the Transportation Security Administration, if not the entirety of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

And if Democrats and Republicans can’t find common ground on such thorny issues as the masking of ICE agents or when exactly those agents must use judicial warrants? Negotiators should be locked in a room until they agree to some compromise.

That would be an inconvenience, but it would also be a relatable experience to Americans now so often stuck in outrageously long security lines at BWI Marshall Airport and many of its counterparts across the country.

As for any members of Congress planning to go on break at the end of this week for the Easter holiday, we’re with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who said that won’t happen while the DHS funding issue remains unresolved.

We would expect House Speaker Mike Johnson to do the same even if the current impasse rests in the other chamber. The sooner any compromise produced in the Senate can be approved by the full Congress, the better. All members should be embarrassed by this failure. It’s not a partisan thing; it’s a good government thing.

No doubt senators are hearing plenty of negative feedback from constituents who travel. They’ll hear even more if the long security lines impact Easter travel. And keep in mind, it isn’t really just about having to wait — heavy travel days sometimes force delays, no matter whether TSA agents are getting paid or not — but the sheer stupidity of it all.

How ICE conducts enforcement is an important and hotly debated issue, and it’s understandable that neither party is eager to cede ground. Now, can we also agree that the political leverage of a budget bill can only be asserted so far? Priorities such as saving political face and boosting chances in the midterms should come after looking out for American voters who are facing punishing lines and missing flights across the country.

We get the performative elements of politics. It’s always been this way. But this is also a time when voters have clearly lost patience with all the theatrics coming out of Washington, D.C., and expect their elected officials to behave like adults.

The current crop of D.C. movers and shakers has already demonstrated that they aren’t quite as embarrassed by a government shutdown as they ought to be — last year’s edition lasted a record 43 days. The DHS shutdown is already approaching that historic number.

All those Americans standing in a line right now that did not have to exist are likely asking, when do members of Congress do their own jobs and find a compromise? The last thing to do is reward any of these players with a nice holiday vacation. Keep everyone at their posts. It’s the least they can do.

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