Senators defend two-week recess as record-breaking government shutdown drags on

While thousands of Department of Homeland Security employees have gone seven weeks without a paycheck, some lawmakers are defending a planned recess as the funding stalemate drags on.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., objected Monday to the idea that senators should have stayed in session until lawmakers come to an agreement to fund DHS. The Democratic lawmaker traveled to the U.S. Capitol to block potential floor action related to ending the partial government shutdown from Republicans during a planned “pro forma” session.

“How do you justify being off for the next two weeks?” CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion asked Coons. “We’re 45 days in. Can Democrats and Republicans keep affording to play this play game?”

“You know very well that we’re not off,” Coons responded. “We’re working every day in our home states. For most of us, this is when we have time to go up and down our state and to meet with our constituents and listen to their concerns.”

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The fiery exchange comes as tens of thousands of DHS employees have been furloughed or are reporting to work without pay during the record-breaking funding lapse. Though President Donald Trump has taken executive action to pay the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workforce with existing funds, many other DHS employees have not received a full paycheck in over seven weeks.

With both chambers of Congress scheduled to be in recess until mid-April, those individuals will continue to have their pay withheld as the funding impasse drags on.

Lawmakers, however, continue to be paid during the shutdown, but have the option to defer their salary during a government shutdown. 

The House of Representatives approved a two-month DHS funding extension measure largely along party lines late Friday evening after rejecting a bipartisan Senate deal that would have funded the whole department except for DHS and parts of the Border Patrol.

Republicans advanced the measure despite Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arguing the bill would be “dead on arrival” in the upper chamber due to opposition from Democrats.

Though no Senate Republican attempted to ask for unanimous consent Monday to approve the House bill, Coons voiced frustration that lawmakers could pursue that approach during the Senate’s recess.

“It is incredibly inconvenient for members to have to come back to Washington just to be there for five minutes,” Coons said. “But ultimately, if that’s what it takes, I’m willing to be the one who comes in again.”

Senate Democrats have consistently refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without sweeping reforms to rein in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. 

House Republicans, conversely, have fiercely objected to not including DHS and CBP money in a DHS funding bill. 

“Republicans are not going to be any part of any effort to reopen our borders or to stop immigration enforcement,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday.

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Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., also defended the planned recess on Monday, telling reporters that lawmakers are continuing to negotiate as the shutdown enters its seventh week. The North Dakota lawmaker chaired a “pro forma” session during which no Senate business was considered.

“TSA is getting paid, because of the president’s action, and we appreciate that very much,” Hoeven said. “Also, ICE and CBP, there is funding there from the Big Beautiful Bill. So they’re getting paid as well. Third, we’re working to set up the reconciliation bill and continuing negotiations.”

Both ICE and CBP are relying on an unprecedented amount of cash from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. However, certain civilians and support staff employed by these agencies have not received a paycheck during the funding lapse.

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When asked by Fox News about the thousands of DHS employees who are not being paid, Hoeven said Republicans are considering a second “big, beautiful” bill that could make DHS shutdown proof for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.

“We want to now do reconciliation for three years,” Hoeven said, referring to a three-year DHS funding extension. “So the Democrats can’t do this to us again.”

A second budget reconciliation package is likely to be an arduous task in an election year and could take several months to accomplish. The approach also risks dividing Republicans. House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., told Fox News Digital on Friday that she would prefer funding DHS through the normal appropriations process.

Amid the funding stalemate, some Senate Republicans are calling on their colleagues to return to Washington and cancel the recess.

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“We can’t reward unprecedented obstruction with two-week recesses,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on social media on Sunday evening, referring to Senate Democrats. 

The Utah Republican was not present during the upper chamber’s pro forma session Monday.