Trump Orders Full Pay for DHS Staff Amid Shutdown

President Trump has issued an executive order declaring that all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees will receive pay and benefits during the ongoing partial government shutdown. This move comes as the longest such shutdown in US history enters its 49th day.

The order, titled "Liberating the Department of Homeland Security From the Democrat-Caused Shutdown", is similar to a previous executive order Trump signed last week that called for issuing back pay to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents affected by the shutdown.

In the new directive, Trump has instructed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to "use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS" to ensure "each and every employee of DHS" is compensated during the impasse. This represents a significant escalation in the president's efforts to mitigate the impact of the shutdown on federal workers.

The partial government shutdown, which has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay, began on December 22nd after Democrats and the White House failed to reach a compromise on funding for Trump's border wall project. The president has remained steadfast in his demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding, a proposal rejected by congressional Democrats.

Critics have accused the Trump administration of using federal workers as "bargaining chips" in the ongoing political stalemate. However, the president has argued that the shutdown is necessary to address the "crisis" at the US-Mexico border and fulfill a key campaign promise.

The DHS executive order marks the latest effort by the White House to alleviate the burden on federal employees impacted by the shutdown. It remains to be seen whether the move will help break the political deadlock or simply embolden the president's stance on border security.

As the shutdown drags on, the economic and human toll continues to mount, with disruptions to critical government services and significant financial hardship for affected workers and their families. The outcome of this high-stakes showdown could have major implications for Trump's agenda and the future of US immigration policy.