Published on : 24 Mar 2026
Breaking — Day 40, Tuesday March 24: The most dramatic 24-hour whiplash in the 40-day history of the DHS shutdown played out overnight — and when the smoke cleared this morning, a deal that senators on both sides described as “within reach” on Monday evening had been blown apart by a single Truth Social post and a speech in Memphis. The DHS shutdown is not over. It may have gotten harder to end than at any point since it began on February 14.
Here is what happened in sequence. On Monday, a bipartisan group of senators — after days of meetings with border czar Tom Homan and weekend negotiations — converged on what Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana described as a plan to “accept the Democrats’ offer to open everything up but ICE” and then fund ICE separately through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process. Tepid optimism began to emerge among senators late last week that a deal could be possible. A bipartisan group of senators met Thursday and Friday with Tom Homan. The meetings marked a key step forward as the two sides expressed more willingness to engage. By Monday evening, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said: “I’m more optimistic that by the end of the week, we will fund DHS.” Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama told reporters “I am going to be working through the night, so hopefully we can figure out how to land this plane.”
Then came Sunday night’s Truth Social post. “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,'” Trump posted on Truth Social. And then Monday afternoon in Memphis, Trump doubled down. “You don’t have to take a fast vote. Don’t worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus.”
The SAVE America Act — a sweeping federal elections overhaul requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot — has already been a headache for Senate Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been clear that the votes aren’t there. Thune called Trump’s new demand “a wrinkle” given that the Senate does not have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. “The idea that we would have to guarantee its passage in order to open up the government, I think you all know that’s not a realistic outcome,” Thune told reporters.
Schumer responded from the Senate floor: “Democrats are going to keep working in good faith. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is trying to sabotage negotiations, demanding that talks stop entirely until Congress passes the Save Act, a bill that has nothing, nothing to do with paying TSA workers and nothing to do with ending the shutdown.” He said the White House had pulled Monday morning’s scheduled meeting with Tom Homan — “apparently the White House pulled that meeting because of Donald Trump’s temper tantrum.”
The bottom line, as NBC News assessed it: Trump’s gambit has probably pushed Congress further away from agreement on reopening DHS than it was 24 hours ago, when there was at least a regular line of communication between the White House and bipartisan senators.
Published: March 24, 2026 (Tuesday — DHS Shutdown Day 40) Shutdown length: Day 40 — now approaching all-time records All-time shutdown record: 43 days (October–November 2025) — broken in 3 days if no deal Monday night deal status: “Within reach” — then torpedoed by Trump Sunday night/Monday Trump’s new demand: Pass SAVE America Act (voter ID/proof of citizenship) before any DHS deal Trump’s Memphis quote: “Don’t worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus.” Thune on SAVE Act: “A wrinkle” — “not a realistic outcome” Schumer on Trump: “Trying to sabotage negotiations” — “temper tantrum” White House Monday meeting: PULLED by White House after Trump’s Truth Social post ICE at airports: Deployed to 13+ airports including Atlanta, JFK, LAX — Monday morning ICE arrests: Trump confirmed ICE agents could make immigration arrests at airports TSA national callout Saturday: 12% — highest ever recorded Houston Hobby + Bush: Both over 40% callout each on Saturday LaGuardia wait times: 3 hours to clear security — some passengers missed flights Collins: Working through the night to find a solution ✅ Senate recess decision: Thune says decision on cancelling recess “later this week” Senate recess start: March 30 — 6 days away If no deal by March 30: Shutdown hits Day 44 — Easter travel devastated Delta waiver: EXPIRES TONIGHT MIDNIGHT — use the app NOW ⚠️ FAA O’Hare cap: 5 days — March 29 ⚠️ Easter Sunday: April 5 — 12 days away
Understanding how close a deal came — and how quickly Trump ended it — requires walking through the exact 36-hour sequence:
Friday March 20 — Week ends with 5th vote failure: The fifth Senate cloture vote failed 47-37. But behind the scenes, Homan-led bipartisan meetings produced more substantive engagement than any previous week. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told CBS News on Sunday that “we ought to accept the Democrats’ offer to open everything up but ICE,” before turning to the budget reconciliation process to fund the immigration enforcement agency without help from Democrats.
Saturday March 22 — TSA-only vote fails 41-49, 12% callout record: Schumer’s TSA-only standalone vote failed 41-49 — Collins voted with Republicans to block it. But the same day, the national TSA callout rate hit 12% — the highest ever recorded. Houston Hobby and Bush Intercontinental both topped 40% callouts individually. At LaGuardia, passengers reported 3-hour security queues. The airport chaos was becoming politically unsustainable.
Sunday March 23 morning — ICE deployment announced: “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents,” Trump wrote. The announcement came with a warning: agents could be making immigration arrests at airports. Border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” agents would be there to release TSA officers from “non-significant roles.” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy suggested a broader role citing ICE’s experience with similar screening equipment at border checkpoints.
Sunday March 23 evening — Republicans converge on off-ramp: Multiple Republican senators — Kennedy, Cruz, Collins, Britt — converged on the framework: fund all of DHS except ICE immediately, then fund ICE via reconciliation separately. Thune discussed the plan directly with Trump by phone. The plan appeared viable. Collins was “working through the night.”
Sunday March 23 evening — Trump posts on Truth Social: “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.'” The post killed the momentum. Homan cancelled Monday morning’s meeting. The White House went dark.
Monday March 24 — Memphis speech, “Make this one for Jesus”: Trump doubled down at a Memphis event, saying “You don’t have to take a fast vote. Don’t worry about Easter, going home. In fact, make this one for Jesus. OK, make this one for Jesus.” “The most important part of homeland security is voter ID and proof of citizenship,” he added.
The result: Trump’s gambit has probably pushed Congress further away from agreement on reopening DHS than it was 24 hours ago. The off-ramp is still technically on the table — senators are still talking — but the White House has removed itself from the negotiation it was previously driving.
Beginning Monday morning, immigration officers from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) began deploying to US airports.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed the deployment at Hartsfield-Jackson in a formal statement: “We have been informed that federal personnel from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO) will be deployed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport beginning tomorrow morning. Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities. All federal personnel will report directly to TSA for the duration of this assignment.”
What ICE agents are doing at airports (confirmed): ✈️ Releasing TSA officers from “non-significant roles” — passenger flow support, queue management ✈️ Crowd control and support to local law enforcement — not primary screening ✈️ NOT conducting primary security screening (they are not trained TSA screeners) ✈️ NOT — officially — conducting immigration enforcement. But Trump confirmed arrests are possible.
The political contradiction: Democrats have been refusing to fund ICE specifically because of its conduct — the January 24 Minneapolis killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good — and now ICE is physically present at airports performing quasi-security functions while the debate over funding ICE continues. A former acting ICE Director told CNN the deployment is “likely a political stunt and won’t do much to help alleviate hourslong wait times.”
The 13+ confirmed airport deployments (Monday March 24): ✈️ Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) — mayor confirmed ✈️ New York JFK — ICE agents photographed by CNN Monday morning ✈️ Los Angeles LAX — confirmed deployment ✈️ Chicago O’Hare (ORD) — confirmed ✈️ Houston (IAH/HOU) — both airports, confirmed ✈️ Miami (MIA) — confirmed ✈️ Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) — confirmed ✈️ Denver (DEN) — confirmed ✈️ Philadelphia (PHL) — confirmed ✈️ Boston Logan (BOS) — confirmed ✈️ Seattle-Tacoma (SEA) — confirmed ✈️ Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) — confirmed ✈️ Washington Dulles (IAD) / Reagan National (DCA) — confirmed
Trump’s position: Trump told NewsNation he would keep ICE at airports “for as long as it takes” and that “Now that I did this, the Democrats want to make a deal.”
Saturday March 22 produced the highest national TSA unscheduled callout rate in the agency’s 25-year history. The 12% figure surpasses the previous peak of 10% recorded on March 15 during the Winter Storm Iona chaos.
The callout breakdown by airport Saturday: ✈️ Houston Hobby (HOU): 40%+ — the most at-risk single airport ✈️ Houston Bush (IAH): 40%+ — both Houston airports simultaneously above 40% ✈️ National average: 12% — six times the pre-shutdown 2% baseline ✈️ LaGuardia: 3-hour security queues — some passengers missed flights
TSA Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl, speaking at an aviation industry conference last week, urged Congress: “please get cash back into our TSA agents’ pockets.”
The 12% callout rate represents approximately 7,300 of the 61,000 TSA officers nationally calling out on a single day — in addition to the 366 who have permanently resigned. Each callout is a domino: lanes close, queues form, passengers miss flights, airlines cancel.
There are some early clues about which side has the upper hand. Trump this weekend suddenly announced that ICE agents would be helping at airports, which could suggest that he’s afraid he and his party might shoulder the blame for the long security wait times. By contrast, during the broader government shutdown last year, Trump actually took steps to increase the pain of the shutdown rather than to try to ease it.
Democratic sources see the polling, including from Quinnipiac, that shows more Americans blame Republicans for what’s happening at airports than blame Democrats. Democrats are saying they will fund TSA and are blaming Republicans for blocking it.
But Democrats have a historic warning to consider: Even as polls appeared pretty favorable to Democrats during the larger shutdown late last year, they eventually gave up with relatively little in the way of a bona fide GOP concession on their primary demand.
CNN’s bottom-line assessment: It’s clear Trump just really wants his voting bill passed. But he now risks making it look like he’s the one prolonging the shutdown. Trump even says ICE agents could be making arrests at airports, which, if true, could open its own can of worms.
The Senate recess begins March 30 — 6 days from today. If no DHS deal is reached and voted on (60 votes required to advance) before then:
📅 March 30: Senate goes on recess — no vote possible until April 10 at earliest 📅 April 5: Easter Sunday — entire Easter travel period inside the shutdown 📅 April 10: Senate returns — earliest possible deal vote 📅 April 13: Kalshi/Polymarket base-case resolution date (pre-Trump demand) 📅 April 22: Record-breaking threshold — longest shutdown in US history
Thune’s recess decision: Thune said a decision on whether to cancel the recess will not be made until later in the week. If Thune cancels recess and keeps the Senate in session, a deal before Easter (April 5) becomes possible. If recess proceeds as scheduled, Easter is almost certainly inside the shutdown.
This is the last time this article will remind you: the Delta Air Lines travel waiver EXPIRES TONIGHT.
The waiver covering Winter Storm Iona and March 14–19 storm disruptions closes at midnight Tuesday March 24. There is no extension. There is no grace period. After midnight, standard change fees and fare differences apply.
Use the Fly Delta app RIGHT NOW: ✅ Fly Delta app → My Trips → Change Flight ✅ 3 minutes to complete ✅ Zero fees, zero fare difference — until midnight only ✅ Same cabin, same origin and destination required
If you miss tonight’s deadline, you lose the waiver. The app works 24/7 — there is no reason to wait.
Easter Sunday is April 5 — 12 days away. The Easter travel period (April 2–7) rivals Spring Break for US aviation volume.
The Easter travel threat as of today:
✈️ TSA callout at 12% nationally — 6× normal ✈️ 366 TSA officers permanently resigned — not replaceable before Easter ✈️ ICE agents at airports — not trained screeners, do not reduce queue times ✈️ Senate recess likely March 30 — no deal before April 10 at minimum ✈️ FAA O’Hare cap starts March 29 — first-week disruptions likely ✈️ Prediction markets now shifted: resolution after April 13 (base case) or April 22 (pessimistic)
What Easter travellers should do this week:
✅ Book fully refundable or zero-change-fee fares — do not lock in non-refundable Easter tickets ✅ Houston, Philadelphia and New Orleans: still plan 3+ hours for security ✅ Chicago O’Hare: FAA cap starts March 29 — consider Chicago Midway (MDW) for Southwest, or reroute via alternative hub ✅ Consider Easter alternatives: drive rather than fly for distances under 6 hours ✅ If you must fly: morning flights have shorter TSA queues (screeners are fresher, callouts accumulate as the day progresses)
✅ Step 1 — Delta waiver: use it TONIGHT before midnight. Fly Delta app → My Trips → Change Flight. This is your last chance. After midnight it’s gone.
✅ Step 2 — ICE at your airport: know what to expect. ICE agents in dark tactical gear are now present at 13+ airports. They are NOT conducting primary screening and are NOT — officially — making immigration arrests. If you are approached by uniformed federal officers, you may ask what agency they represent. If you have questions, airport customer service desks can clarify.
✅ Step 3 — Easter flights: book flexible today. If you haven’t yet booked Easter travel, choose fully refundable fares. If you have non-refundable Easter bookings, check whether your airline has published any Easter-period flexibility waivers.
✅ Step 4 — O’Hare bookings April–October: check this week. The FAA cap (280 fewer daily flights) takes effect in 5 days on March 29. Airlines are filing schedule changes now. Check your United or American O’Hare connection bookings at united.com and aa.com for any airline-initiated changes.
✅ Step 5 — Monitor Thune’s recess decision Thursday–Friday. If Thune cancels the Senate recess, a deal before Easter becomes possible and the outlook changes rapidly. If recess proceeds March 30, plan for Easter inside the shutdown. Follow @SenateMajLdr on X for the announcement.
Posted By : Vinay
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