Mullin: No More Money To Pay Dhs Employees As Of May

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Tuesday his department will run out of money to pay employees’ salaries the first week of May, as lawmakers race to end a two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

Appearing on “Fox and Friends” Tuesday morning, the secretary outlined that money to pay employees’ salaries were coming from the funds Congress allocated to DHS last year via President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. But DHS has an extensive payroll burden, Mullin said, and if the department isn’t funded, that extra pot of money will dry up early next month.

“My payroll through DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks, so the money is going extremely fast and once that happens, there is no emergency funds after that,” Mullin said. “I’ve got one payroll left and there is no more emergency funds, so the president can’t do another executive order because there’s no more money there.”

Mullin added that almost two-thirds of the department’s workforce remains furloughed and went on to call on Democrats to explain why they are “putting homeland at risk” and urged that Democratic holdouts be “held accountable.”

The incredibly candid admission about DHS’ financial straits comes as Republicans are trying to put forward a funding package that would fund most of the agencies under the Department of Homeland Security, while punting funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection down the line for a budget reconciliation package.

Trump has given lawmakers until June 1 to pass a funding bill to cover the immigration enforcement agencies, as Democrats continue to oppose additional funding for ICE and CBP without changes to the way they carry out immigration enforcement operations.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Senate Budget Committee chair, is expected Tuesday to put forward a resolution that would direct relevant committees to draft funding legislation for ICE and CBP. That bill could clear the Senate as soon as Thursday.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday the House will move quickly to pass a budget resolution once it clears the Senate.