议员在国土安全部停摆之争中态度坚定,机场排长队与旅行焦虑加剧,停摆可能持续数周


By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Adam Cancryn | 2小时前 | 发布于 2026年3月17日,美国东部时间下午5:06

旅客在佐治亚州亚特兰大哈茨菲尔德-杰克逊国际机场排队等候,2026年3月16日。

Megan Varner/Getty Images

国会山两党在总统唐纳德·特朗普的移民议程上仍态度坚决,威胁将国土安全部(DHS)停摆再拖延数日——甚至数周。

尽管一名高级官员周二警告美国可能很快被迫关闭部分机场,主要政党领袖仍通过指责对手来应对日益严重的政治危机。

“我认为共和党人需要向TSA(美国运输安全管理局)工作人员支付工资,”新泽西州参议员科里·布克在被问及民主党是否会在航班延误加剧时坚持其要求时告诉CNN,“这种混乱是唐纳德·特朗普和国会共和党人造成的,他们无所作为,没有向这些非常忠诚的政府工作人员支付工资。”

布克是数十名拒绝支持任何国土安全部拨款法案的参议院民主党人之一,除非法案中包含对特朗普的移民和海关执法局(ICE)进行重大改革。他们认为这场资金斗争是迫使白宫修改该机构有争议——有时甚至致命——的运作法律的唯一机会,今年这已引发全国性愤怒。

“ICE(移民和海关执法局)能够戴口罩,能够将人们从车上拉出来并将他们推倒在地,能够向小婴儿喷洒催泪瓦斯,能够在光天化日之下开枪射击而无需承担责任。这无助于减少机场排队,”马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦周二告诉CNN。

这些民主党人多次试图迫使共和党人资助国土安全部的其他关键职能,包括运输安全管理局、海岸警卫队和联邦紧急事务管理局。但共和党人同样坚定地表示,民主党人是阻碍拨款的一方,并坚持不会为部门的部分职能提供资金。

在与伊朗的战争带来的威胁环境加剧、恶劣天气和春假旅行高峰使本就人手不足的机场雪上加霜的关键时刻,联邦移民执法方面的激烈分歧使国土安全部陷入资金短缺。双方都警告说,僵局可能会持续到国会为复活节和逾越节休会的两周内,导致停摆再持续数周。

这一僵局还与特朗普提名的国土安全部负责人马克韦恩·穆林的确认程序发生冲突,他定于周三在参议院国土安全委员会接受质询。

根据多位熟悉内部讨论的人士透露,国会山和白宫内部的共和党人认为,民主党——而非特朗普——将因阻止边境安全资金而在停摆中承受政治痛苦。他们认为,像佐治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫这样的易受攻击的民主党现任议员(其家乡亚特兰大机场已出现数小时的等待)将在11月感受到反弹。

议长迈克·约翰逊周二表示,民主党人“劫持”国土安全部以“保护非法移民罪犯”,并警告机场“正达到临界点”,5万名TSA特工将再无薪工作一周。参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩则表示,民主党人三周前选择不接受白宫提出的ICE重大提案,他称这一提案是“重大让步”,旨在开启部门资金谈判。

参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩在2026年3月17日美国国会每周政策午餐会后向媒体发表讲话。

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

两名知情人士告诉CNN,民主党人昨晚向白宫提出了反建议,距离白宫上次提议已有近20天,但其中一人补充说,这并没有改变辩论的方向。

图恩称民主党人的最新提议与之前基本相同,而白宫提议包括高达1亿美元的随身摄像机经费,以及对监察长审计的提案,以及“不合规审查”。

“民主党似乎决心拖延这一政治问题,”图恩说。

白宫官员在给参议院共和党主要拨款议员的一封信中详细阐述了其提议的几个要素,称除了新的随身摄像机规定外,其提议的资金协议还将限制政府在医院和学校等“敏感”地点进行执法行动的能力,并加强对联邦拘留设施的监督。

它还将要求大多数移民执法人员在执法行动中明确表明身份,并将官员所谓的“不故意拘留美国公民”的现行做法法典化。

该提议未涉及特工使用口罩的问题。在随后的记者会上,一名高级白宫官员还暗示,白宫将反对对行政令的修改,称其为“长期做法”。

民主党人迄今为止拒绝了政府的拨款提议,认为这些提议不够充分,称需要进行更广泛的部门改革。

“双方分歧很大,”这位高级官员补充说,谈判尚未进展到特朗普总统能直接与民主党主要议员谈判的程度。

民主党人激烈反驳了图恩对白宫妥协意愿的描述。参议院民主党拨款负责人帕蒂·默里告诉记者,她的最新提议“不一样”,但拒绝分享具体细节。

当被CNN问及民主党人是否对停摆的影响感到紧张(如航班延误)时,默里坚定地说:“现在应该紧张的是共和党人,他们在阻止发工资。我们已经提供了无数机会让他们解决问题。”

与以往的资金斗争不同,民主党在立场上没有出现重大裂痕。

到目前为止,只有宾夕法尼亚州参议员约翰·费特曼——以反对停摆而闻名——偏离了政党路线。参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默及其团队在明尼阿波利斯发生的雷妮·古德和亚历克斯·普雷蒂被杀害事件引发公愤后,感到有信心党内几乎所有人都支持他。

参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默在2026年3月17日美国国会大厦举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。

Heather Diehl/Getty Images

新罕布什尔州参议员 Jeanne Shaheen 曾投票支持共和党结束上一次政府停摆,她周二告诉CNN,应该是共和党人退缩。

“我认为谈判仍在进行中,但现实是,如果共和党人想要解决这个问题,他们本可以资助除ICE之外的所有项目,”Shaheen说,指的是民主党多次试图资助TSA和国土安全部的其他非移民部分。她指出,移民局已经通过去年共和党人的重大边境和税收法案获得了未来几年的资金。

马里兰州参议员克里斯·范霍伦表示,他认为打破僵局只有两条路。

“一是白宫认真对待有效约束ICE。我只是不认为这会发生,”他说。另一种情况是,“共和党人同意资助TSA、海岸警卫队和联邦紧急事务管理局,我们今天就能做到,”他说。

在众议院,民主党人计划在本周晚些时候对众议院共和党领袖发起自己的施压运动——试图推动一项法案进行投票,该法案将资助国土安全部但不涉及移民执法。该法案只需少数共和党人签名就能成功推动投票——但共和党领袖认为这不会成为问题,据一位熟悉讨论的人士透露。共和党人指出,民主党人的推动不仅会让ICE无法获得资金,还会让海关和边境保护局无法获得资金,他们认为后者更难捍卫。

“这不是一个严肃的提议,”主持众议院规则委员会的共和党众议员弗吉尼亚·福克斯周二在众议院地板上表示,嘲笑民主党人称共和党人是阻碍部门资金的一方。“我们需要资助整个国土安全部以保持边境关闭……很明显,这不是民主党人想要的。”

CNN的Ted Barrett、Manu Raju和Aileen Graef对本报道有贡献。

Lawmakers unflinching in DHS shutdown fight that could drag on for weeks as airport lines and travel anxieties grow

By Sarah Ferris, Lauren Fox, Adam Cancryn | 2 hr ago | PUBLISHED Mar 17, 2026, 5:06 PM ET

Travelers wait in long lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2026.

Megan Varner/Getty Images

Both parties on Capitol Hill remain unmoved in their fight over President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, threatening to drag out the Department of Homeland Security shutdown for days – if not weeks – more.

Even as a top official warned Tuesday the US could soon be forced to shutter some airports, top party leaders are responding to the mounting political crisis by blaming their opponents.

“I think Republicans need to pay TSA workers,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker told CNN when asked if Democrats planned to stand firm on their demands as airline delays worsen. “This chaos is Donald Trump and congressional Republicans who are doing nothing to pay these very loyal government workers.”

Booker is among dozens of Senate Democrats who are refusing to support any funding bill for DHS that doesn’t include a significant overhaul to Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. They see the funding fight as their only chance to force the White House to make changes in law to the agency’s contentious – and at times, fatal – operations, which have led to nationwide outrage this year.

“ICE being able to wear masks, to be able to pull people out of their cars and throw them to the ground, to be able to gas little babies and to be able to shoot people in broad daylight with no accountability. That is not helping reduce lines at the airport,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told CNN on Tuesday.

These Democrats have repeatedly tried to force Republicans to fund DHS’ other key functions, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But Republicans are equally firm that Democrats are the ones blocking the funding and insist they will not fund slices of the department.

That fierce disagreement over federal immigration enforcement has left DHS without funding at a critical time, with a heightened threat environment stemming from the US war with Iran and severe weather and spring break travel threatening to compound at already understaffed airports. And both sides warn the stalemate could continue through Congress’ two-week recess for Easter and Passover, dragging the shutdown on for many more weeks.

The impasse is also colliding with the confirmation process for Trump’s pick to lead the agency, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is set to appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for a grilling on Wednesday.

Inside the Capitol and White House, Republicans believe that Democrats – not Trump – will feel the political pain from the shutdown as they seek to block funding for border security, according to multiple people familiar with internal discussions. They argue that vulnerable Democratic incumbents – like Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose hometown airport of Atlanta has seen hours-long waits – will feel the blowback come November.

Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Democrats are holding DHS “hostage in order to protect criminal illegal aliens” as he warned that airports are “reaching a breaking point” with 50,000 TSA agents now going without pay for another week. His Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune, argued that Democrats chose not to accept a major ICE proposal from the White House roughly three weeks ago, which he said amounted to “significant gives” designed to unlock talks to fund the department.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to the press after a weekly policy luncheon at the US Capitol on March 17, 2026.

Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Democrats returned a counteroffer to the White House last night, nearly 20 days after the White House’s last offer, two sources familiar with negotiations told CNN, though one added that it did not move the debate in any way.

Thune described Democrats’ latest offer as largely the same as previous ones, while he said the White House offer included as much as $100 million in body cams and a proposal for inspector general audits, as well as “reviews for noncompliance.”

“Democrats seem intent on dragging out this political issue,” Thune said.

Detailing several elements of its offer in a letter to top Senate Republican appropriators, White House officials wrote that along with new body camera provisions, their proposed funding deal would include limiting the government’s ability to conduct enforcement operations at “sensitive” locations like hospitals and schools and boost oversight of federal detention facilities.

It would also require that most immigration agents clearly identify themselves during enforcement actions and codify what the officials called the “current practice of not knowingly detaining a U.S. citizen.”

The offer did not address agents’ use of masks. In a subsequent call with reporters, a senior White House official also suggested the White House would oppose changes to its reliance on administrative warrants, calling it a “longstanding practice.”

Democrats have so far rejected the administration’s funding offers as inadequate, arguing that there need to be broader departmental reforms.

“The parties are moving far apart,” the senior official said, adding that talks are not advanced enough yet for President Donald Trump to negotiate directly with top Democratic lawmakers.

Democrats have fiercely disputed Thune’s characterization of the White House’s willingness to compromise. Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate Democratic spending leader, told reporters that her latest proposal was “not the same” but declined to share specifics.

Asked by CNN if Democrats are getting nervous about the effects of the shutdown, such as airline delays, Murray was firm: “Who should be nervous right now is Republicans, who are holding up the pay. We have offered numerous opportunities for them to do that.”

Unlike in previous funding fights, the Democratic Party is showing no major cracks in their position.

So far, only Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania – who is famously opposed to shutdowns – has veered from the party line. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his team feel confident that nearly the entire party is behind him after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti prompted outrage in Minneapolis, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a press conference at the US Capitol on March 17, 2026.

Heather Diehl/Getty Images

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who notably voted with Republicans to end the last government shutdown, told CNN on Tuesday that it’s the GOP that needs to back down.

“I think negotiations are ongoing but the reality is if Republicans wanted to solve this they would fund everything but ICE,” Shaheen said, referring to the multiple Democratic attempts to fund TSA and other non-immigration pieces of DHS. The immigration agency, she pointed out, was already funded for the next several years through the GOP’s major border and tax bill last year.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he sees only two ways out of the stalemate.

“One is that the White House gets serious about meaningfully reining in ICE. I just don’t see that happening,” he said. The other? “Republicans agree to fund TSA, fund the Coast Guard and fund FEMA and we could do it today,” he said.

In the House, Democrats are planning to mount their own pressure campaign against House GOP leaders later this week — attempting to force a vote on a bill that would fund DHS aside from immigration enforcement. That bill would only need a handful of Republican signatures to succeed in forcing a vote — but GOP leaders feel confident it will not be a problem, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Republicans point out that Democrats’ push would not only ICE leave unfunded, but also Customs and Border Protection, which they argue is much harder to defend.

“This is not a serious proposal,” GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx, who leads the House Rules Committee, said on the floor Tuesday, scoffing at Democrats’ suggestion that Republicans are the ones blocking funding for the department. “We need to fund all of DHS to keep our border closed … and it’s obvious that’s not what the Democrats want.”

CNN’s Ted Barrett, Manu Raju and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.

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