Trump says he'll sign order to pay TSA agents as Senate works overnight on funding deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents, while senators worked overnight into Friday trying to end a budget impasse that has jammed airports and created financial hardship for workers.

Trump announced his decision in a social media post saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.”

With pressure mounting to resolve the 42-day stalemate over Department of Homeland Security funding, senators and the White House closed in on the endgame in the final hours before TSA workers miss another paycheck Friday.

The White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay the TSA agents, a politically and legally fraught approach. Instead, Trump’s order will pay TSA agents using money from his 2025 tax bill, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.

At the same time, senators were working through the night on a package that would fund as much of the rest of the department as possible, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard. Democrats have demanded restraints on the Homeland Security officers conducting the Trump administration's immigration enforcement actions before agreeing to fund those parts of the agency.

“The president is doing absolutely the right thing,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, after speaking with Trump. “The TSA agents are going to be paid.”

The funding shutdown has resulted in travel delays and even warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stop coming to work.

Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of its nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts.

Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union is grateful the TSA workers will be paid, but said Congress must stay in session to pass a deal “that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running.”

At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday.

“I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.”

Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced he had given a “last and final” offer to the Democrats.

Thune did not disclose details of the new framework, but he said it picked up from a previous offer over the weekend, before talks with the White House and Democrats had broken off.

“Enough is enough,” he said.

But as senators retreated to privately discuss the new plan, action stalled out.

Democrats argued the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies who are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis.

They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people's homes or private spaces — something new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said he is open to considering, but senators want to see in writing.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes.

Trump had largely left the issue to Congress, but warned he was ready to take action, threatening to send the National Guard to airports in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers’ IDs.

“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we’ll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said during a Thursday morning Cabinet meeting.

The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the immigration officers are still being paid during the shutdown.

Any deal almost certainly needs to involve a compromise as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own party's proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations.

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking, Rebecca Santana, Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington, Lekan Oyekanmi in Houston, Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed to this report.

Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

Passengers stand in the TSA pre-check line at LaGuardia Airport, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

Prior to votes, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a statement to a forum on climate change and the consequences for home insurance, grocery prices, and health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is met by reporters after a closed door meeting with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)

HOUSTON (AP) — Alvaro Folgueiras converted a critical three-point play when Nebraska only had four defenders on the floor, and ninth-seeded Iowa continued its unpredictable NCAA Tournament run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, beating Nebraska 77-71 in a South Region semifinal on Thursday night.

Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points and Folgueiras had 16 for the Hawkeyes (24-12), who knocked off top-seeded Florida in the second round on Folgueiras’ 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Iowa will face either Illinois or Houston on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. McCollum, who won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State, has now led Iowa to its fifth Elite Eight and first since 1987.

Fourth-seeded Nebraska (28-7) took an early 10-point lead against its Big Ten rival, and Iowa tied it four times but never led until Stirtz buried a 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 2:10 to go. Sage Tate hit another 3 to cap a 9-0 run and put Iowa ahead 71-65.

The Cornhuskers got within three on a second-chance 3 by Braden Frager, but they were disorganized on the inbound play, leaving Folgueiras unguarded near the rim. He slammed it home — popping up screaming after he finished through contact as Iowa fans roared — and converted the free throw for a six-point lead.

Another dunk by Folgueiras with 34 seconds left made it 76-68.

Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort made six 3s and scored 25 points for Nebraska, which won the first two March Madness games in program history to get this far. Frager added 16 points for coach Fred Hoiberg’s Cornhuskers, who delighted a traveling contingent of red-clad fans throughout their tournament run.

NO. 3 Illinois 65, NO. 2 HOUSTON 55

HOUSTON (AP) — David Mirkovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Illinois flexed its defensive muscles to eliminate last year’s national runner-up, beating Houston.

Next up is a meeting Saturday with ninth-seeded Iowa to see which Big Ten team will advance to the Final Four. It will be the 11th Elite Eight appearance for Illinois (27-8) and its second in three seasons under Brad Underwood.

In the Sweet 16 for a seventh consecutive time, the second-seeded Cougars (30-7) were thrilled to be playing a game just over two miles from their campus. But their poor shooting gave Houston fans little to cheer about and delighted the orange-clad Illini faithful who made the long trip to Texas.

Star freshman point guard Kingston Flemings, who expected to be an NBA lottery pick, had 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting and Milos Uzan made just 2 of 11 shots.

But they were far from the only Cougars who struggled offensively. The team shot just 34% in its lowest-scoring game of the season.

Illinois finished well under the 84.7 points a game it averaged entering Thursday. But its offense was still plenty powerful enough to send Houston back to its nearby campus. Keaton Wagler had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Illini, and Andrej Stojakovic — with his dad, three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, in the stands — also scored 13.

NO. 1 ARIZONA 109, NO. 4 ARKANSAS 88

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Arizona finally got over the Sweet 16 hurdle under coach Tommy Lloyd, getting 23 points from Brayden Burries and a dominant offensive effort in a win over Arkansas.

Fellow freshmen Koa Peat added 21 points and Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) won their 12th straight game overall to tie a school record for wins in a season and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015.

Arizona will play second-seeded Purdue on Saturday night for a spot in the Final Four.

Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka all scored 14 points as Arizona became the first team in NCAA Tournament history with six players scoring at least 14 points in a game.

Lloyd has won a record 147 games in his first five seasons as a head coach but has been unable to find tournament success before this season. Arizona had lost three times in the Sweet 16 and once in the first round as a No. 2 seed in Lloyd’s first four seasons.

But the Wildcats have rolled through this year’s tournament outside of a couple of tense moments in the second round against Utah State, outscoring the opposition by 67 points in three double-digit wins.

Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 points for fourth-seeded Arkansas (28-9) in what might be the final college game for the talented freshman who scored 88 points in three tournament games. But he didn’t get nearly enough help against the deeper Wildcats.

NO. 2 PURDUE 79, NO. 11 TEXAS 77

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn tipped in a miss by Braden Smith with 0.7 seconds left, and Purdue edged hobbling Texas star Tramon Mark and the Longhorns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Texas (21-15) tied it moments earlier when Dailyn Swain made a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play with 11.9 seconds to go. Smith had scored on his own drive with 38 seconds remaining and finished with 16 points.

Kaufman-Renn hit his first seven shots — going 6 for 6 and grabbing five rebounds in the first half — on the way to 20 points. He was mobbed by teammates right after the final buzzer sounded at SAP Center.

Mark scored 29 for the Longhorns, grimacing and clearly in pain limping on his injured left foot through the closing minutes when the sixth-year senior’s team needed him most. His points were the most by a Texas player in an NCAA Tournament game since Kevin Durant scored 30 against Southern California in the second round of the 2007 tournament.

Purdue (30-8) advances to Saturday’s Elite Eight game against either top-seeded Arizona (34-2) or No. 4 seed Arkansas (28-8), who were playing the late game at SAP Center.

Texas coach Sean Miller made his ninth Sweet 16 appearance in 21 seasons, the most of any coach who hasn’t reached the Final Four.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras, rear, and forward Cam Manyawu (3) celebrate during the second half against Nebraska in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)