Baldwin to Republicans: Stop Holding TSA Workers and Wisconsin Travelers Hostage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) called on her Senate Republican colleagues to join her and fund TSA, FEMA, and other critical agencies at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senate Republicans have now - on nine separate occasions - blocked bills to fund TSA, FEMA, CISA, Coast Guard, and other important DHS functions. These bills did not include funding for ICE and Border Patrol as negotiations to reform those are actively ongoing.

"Wisconsin families going on Spring Break or folks traveling for work should not be held hostage because of politics in Washington," said Senator Baldwin. "There is no good reason that we cannot fund TSA and get its workers the paychecks they've earned, while also continuing our work to rein in ICE's lawlessness. We can and must do both - it's what Wisconsinites are demanding."

Since DHS has been shut down, Senate Democrats have attempted to fund DHS, with the exception of ICE numerous times, including:

On March 5^th, Senate Republicans:

• Blocked a bill to fund all of DHS except for ICE, CBP, and the DHS Secretary's office while negotiations on ICE and Border Patrol continue.

On March 11^th, Senate Republicans:

• Again, blocked a bill to fund all of DHS except for ICE, CBP, and the DHS Secretary's office while talks continue. Watch Senator Baldwin's floor speech here.

On March 12^th, Senate Republicans:

• Blocked a bill to pay TSA workers while broader negotiations continue.
• Blocked a bill to fund CISA while broader negotiations continue.
• Blocked a bill to ensure members of the Coast Guard are paid while broader negotiations continue.
• Blocked a bill to fund FEMA while broader negotiations continue.

On March 18^th, Senate Republicans:

• Blocked a bill to pay TSA workers while broader negotiations continue.

On March 19^th, Senate Republicans:

• Blocked a bill to pay TSA workers while broader negotiations continue.
• Blocked a bill to fund all of DHS except for ICE, CBP, and the DHS Secretary's office while talks continue.

After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Senator Baldwin announced that she would not support any additional funding for DHS without increased transparency, accountability, and stronger guardrails to rein in ICE. Senator Baldwin also called on Secretary Noem to resign immediately. Two-thirds of Americans say ICE and Border Patrol have gone "too far" with their tactics. A Marquette Law School poll found 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the job ICE is doing, while 3 in 4 Americans support making changes at ICE.

Senator Baldwin also co-sponsors a bill, the PUBLIC SAFETY Act, to redirect almost $75 billion in funding passed in the Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and send it instead to local law enforcement to help hire and train 200,000 local cops in communities across the U.S.

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