Republican Senator Says Trump to Blame for TSA Nightmare
Republican Senator John Kennedy is blaming President Trump for blocking legislation that would have paid Transportation Service Administration agents and ended the present air travel nightmare lines.
“Senator Cruz and I came up with a plan.… The Democrats have offered to open up everything but ICE,” Kennedy told Fox News on Monday, referring to the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and TSA. “Ted and I said, ‘OK, let’s accept their offer.’ And then at the same time, we would offer a bill for reconciliation where we don’t need any Democratic votes to do whatever we wanted to do with ICE. And that way we’re out of the shutdown and DHS is back open.
“Senator Thune submitted that to President Trump, as is his right. He said no. No deals with the Democrats,” Kennedy continued. “It would’ve worked. We could’ve had TSA paid by the end of the week. But the president said no deal.”
Sen. John Kennedy admits on Fox News that the Republicans and Democrats reached a deal to fund TSA, but Trump said, “No. No deals with the Democrats.”
Kennedy says, “It would have worked. We could have had TSA paid by the end of the week.”
This is the Trump shutdown! pic.twitter.com/VTsjYI5Bkw— Travis Akers ?? (@travisakers) March 23, 2026
The next day, Kennedy went back on Fox News and claimed that Trump had “reconsidered and may be on board. I don’t know for certain.”
Sen. Kennedy on his plan to reopen all of DHS with the exception of ICE: "I talked to Thune last night and he says the president has reconsidered and may be on board" pic.twitter.com/j3jgUBuxOf— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2026
Kennedy’s statements shatter any and all GOP arguments that Democrats are somehow at fault for this partial shutdown. He plainly admitted that this could have all been wrapped up before the weekend, but Trump himself struck it down. All the lines, the chaos, the delays, and the empty pockets are on the president.
“It turns out that if you control the House, Senate, and presidency and are the ones deciding if you reopen the government, it really is your shutdown to own!” Fox News’s liberal host Jessica Tarlov said Tuesday on X.
Trump has yet to comment on where he stands now.
