Trump weighs calling Congress from recess for funds approval

President Donald Trump speaks on the Truman balcony during an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on March 27. (Bloomberg Photo)

President Donald Trump said he is considering calling Congress back to Washington to work on approving funding for the Department of Homeland Security, according to the New York Post, raising pressure on lawmakers to end a fight that snarled air travel throughout the country.

“It’s something that’s under consideration,” Trump told the Post in an interview, suggesting that a decision could come after this weekend’s Easter holiday. “Maybe we’ll let them have Easter,” he added.

Congress is currently on a two-week recess even amid a partial government shutdown impacting DHS that is well into its second month. Democrats have held up funding for parts of the department in a bid to force changes to Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.

Senators last week agreed on a bipartisan deal to end the shutdown and fund most of DHS. But House Republicans rejected that compromise, instead voting late Friday night on a stopgap bill that would fund the department, including Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement until May 22.

The funding impasse for DHS, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration, has led to long lines at security checkpoints, delaying operations at airports around the country. Trump signed a memo on Friday directing TSA personnel to be paid, with the directive covering back pay and paychecks going forward, though it is still unclear if that will fully alleviate the disruptions travelers endured in recent weeks.

Presidents have the authority to call lawmakers back to Congress to address urgent business. But those powers have been used sparingly, and Trump would be the first to do so in decades.