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Welcome to The Logoff: The DHS shutdown is causing chaos at airports, but Donald Trump has his own set of priorities.
What is happening? Lawmakers are debating this week on a possible measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security — but not ICE — before the Easter recess scheduled to begin Saturday. The ongoing DHS shutdown has meant TSA employees are not getting paid, and some are quitting or calling in sick, leading to long security lines at airports.
The talks face problems of their own — Sen. Angus King (I-ME) called the GOP DHS proposal today a “fraud” — but President Donald Trump is throwing additional sand into the works with his demand that lawmakers pass a bill called the SAVE America Act along with DHS funding.
“I think whatever deal they make, I’m not happy with it,” Trump said Tuesday of the talks.
What would the SAVE America Act do? At its core, the bill would introduce strict new voter ID requirements, including requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote and suppressing mail-in voting.
Recently, Trump has also tried to graft new, unrelated requirements onto the bill; on Sunday, she posted, “All Paper Ballots, No Men in Women’s Sports, and No Transgender VIOLATION of our precious children … put everything together as one, and VOTE!!!”
Will this happen? It is not. Despite Trump’s wishes, the SAVE America Act has no clear path to passage in the Senate, whether or not it is included in the DHS funding measure (a version of the bill that already passed the House last month).
Under pressure from Trump, however, Republican senators have remained to go in motion of trying to advance the bill.
What does this mean for airport routes? Currently, there is no agreed-upon plan to reopen DHS, although one could project itself as senators look down on the prospect of missing the Easter break. If that happens, the next question will be whether Trump will let his SAVE America overhaul fall by the wayside.
And so, it’s time to leave…
Here’s an amazing story from Vox It is indescribable podcast about environmental activist Casey Harrell. After being diagnosed with ALS in 2020, Harrell eventually lost the ability to speak. Now, tiny electrodes implanted in his brain are helping him speak again.
Have a good evening, and see you tomorrow!
