The Department of Homeland Security partial government shutdown entered its 40th day Wednesday — the longest in American history — with no funding resolution in sight. TSA's administrator warned Congress that the agency may have to shut down operations at some airports entirely if callout rates continue to rise; absences are topping 40% at some major hubs, and the agency has recorded the highest wait times in its history, with some lines exceeding four and a half hours. Fox News's live-news coverage and CNN's live-updates both confirmed the 40-day milestone, the TSA warning, and the record wait times.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters talks were "going in circles" after the latest Republican framework — which would have funded most DHS operations while excluding some ICE enforcement activities and including officer body cameras — failed to gain traction from either President Trump or Senate Democrats. Trump stated he was "pretty much not happy" with any deal that Democrats could support, and separately said he would oppose any deal that did not include passage of his SAVE America Act voter ID bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office said Democrats had submitted a counterproposal that included stricter ICE accountability measures; Republicans called it a non-starter. Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Democrats were "driving the country off a cliff."

To partially address the TSA staffing crisis, the Trump administration deployed "hundreds" of ICE officers to airports including Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Chicago O'Hare, and Houston Bush Intercontinental. Border czar Tom Homan confirmed ICE agents are performing crowd control and ID monitoring at security checkpoints after receiving abbreviated TSA training. Fox News's Homan interview framed the deployment as creative problem-solving under Democratic obstruction; CNN reported that the idea originated from a call on Fox News host Clay Travis's radio show, where a listener suggested the idea and Trump subsequently adopted it. PBS NewsHour confirmed ICE deployments are underway at multiple airports.

The TSA workers' union said ICE's presence does not address its members' core complaints — working without pay for 40 days — and questioned whether ICE officers' abbreviated training provides adequate security. Both Fox News and CNN noted that nearly 500 TSA officers have resigned since the shutdown began in mid-February. The dispute at its core is whether immigration enforcement policy changes should be tied to any DHS funding deal: Democrats insist on accountability reforms after two U.S. citizens were killed during ICE operations in Minneapolis; Republicans and the White House say policy must be decided separately from funding.