Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned that his department could completely run out of money by the first week of May if the congressional funding impasse continues.
As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown continues to leave the agency dry of appropriations, Mullin explained on Tuesday that the department’s payroll is currently being supported by emergency funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, freed up by President Donald Trump. This funding will dry up soon, however, Mullin warned.
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“But that money is dried up, if I continue down this path, the first week of May, because my payroll through DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks,” Mullin said in a Fox News interview. “So the money is going extremely fast, and once that happens, there is no emergency funds after that.”
He continued that Trump can’t sign another executive order to use emergency funds to pay DHS employees “because there’s no more money there.”
DHS has been shut down for 66 days as its funding lapse continues to surpass the record for the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Democrats in Congress have not budged on their refusal to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol under the department, leading to an impasse as Republicans have maintained a hard line on funding these programs.
Trump first stepped in to sign an executive order to pay employees of the Transportation Security Administration in late March as security lines in airports reached several hours long.
“I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports,” Trump said in late March.
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Then, in early April, Trump announced he would sign an executive order to pay all DHS employees during the shutdown.
Republicans on the Hill are currently trying to fund the entire department through the budget reconciliation process.
