Cruz asks Senate to hold his salary during DHS shutdown

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked on Tuesday for his congressional salary to be withheld until the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is over. 

“Due to the Democrat’s Shutdown, I’ve asked the Financial Clerk of the Senate to hold my salary,” the Texas senator wrote on the social platform X. “It’s not right for Members of Congress to be paid if the working men and women of DHS aren’t.”

The Texas senator included a photo of his letter in the Tuesday post, in which he requested Senate Financial Clerk Ted Ruckner to hold his salary “for pickup” after the shutdown ends. 

He made a similar request during the government shutdown last fall, which lasted 43 days, becoming the longest shutdown in history. 

Cruz has taken a leading role in the recent negotiations to reopen the department, as Democrats refuse to back a necessary funding package until the administration agrees to meet several of their demands for reform at DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies. 

Over the weekend, Cruz suggested a two-part approach to passing the funding measure. The strategy would entail breaking off funding for ICE and CBP from the main bill and passing funding for these agencies later through the reconciliation process, in which only a simple majority is needed. 

Democratic senators voted down a GOP bill backed by President Trump on Tuesday that would have funded nearly all of DHS with only some funds allocated to ICE. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) maintained his party’s insistence that their reform demands at the agency be met before any funding is approved. Their demands include a mask ban, judicial warrant reform and a universal code of conduct for immigration officers.

“You know what we’ve called for all along,” Schumer told reporters during a Tuesday press conference. “I’m not going to get into specifics, but we need strong, strong reforms and we need to rein in ICE. We’ve been consistent in what we’ve been asking for from the get-go.”

In addition to ICE and CBP, DHS funding covers several critical agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Staffing shortages due to a lapse in wages at TSA have resulted in long lines and headaches at airport security lines across the country, with some airports recommending travelers arrive more than four hours early for their flights.

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