The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security entered its fortieth day Thursday as the Senate resumed consideration of the legislative vehicle for the SAVE Act, with negotiations between the two parties at an impasse and no clear path to resolution visible before the Easter congressional recess. The shutdown, which began in mid-February after a continuing resolution failed to pass, has left tens of thousands of Department of Homeland Security employees working without pay or furloughed entirely.

The Transportation Security Administration’s acting administrator, Rebecca Torres, testified before the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday in a session that produced some of the most dramatic testimony of the shutdown period. Torres told senators that TSA officers across the country were facing evictions, home repossessions, and the inability to pay for prescription medications and childcare. She said worker morale had reached a critically low point and that the agency was experiencing an unprecedented surge in unplanned absences as employees were forced to prioritize their own financial survival over their federal duties.

The human consequences Torres described translated directly into operational problems at airports across the country. Thursday saw passenger screening wait times exceeding two hours at major hubs including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, and Los Angeles International Airport, according to data published by the agency. Several airlines issued advisories urging passengers to arrive at least three hours before scheduled departure times, a recommendation rarely seen outside of peak holiday travel periods.

TSA officers are among the federal workforce classifications designated as essential, meaning they are required to continue working during the shutdown even without receiving paychecks. This legal requirement has generated an outpouring of sympathy from travelers and labor advocates but has also drawn criticism from civil liberties groups and labor attorneys who argue the government cannot compel labor without compensation for extended periods without running afoul of constitutional and statutory protections. A federal employee union filed a new lawsuit Thursday challenging the legality of continued mandatory service without pay.

The SAVE Act, which stands for Securing America’s Vulnerable Environments, had been a point of contention between the parties since before the shutdown began. The legislation bundles together funding for border security infrastructure, including physical barriers and technology systems, with a controversial new voter registration verification requirement that Democrats have characterized as a voter suppression measure and Republicans have framed as a common-sense election integrity provision. The two issues became linked during budget negotiations late last year, and neither side has been willing to decouple them.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune brought the SAVE Act legislative vehicle back to the floor Thursday afternoon for what he described as a final opportunity to reach agreement before the recess. He called on Democrats to allow a clean vote on the full bill and accused them of holding federal workers hostage to protect what he characterized as lax enforcement of election laws. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer immediately objected and reiterated the Democratic position that any agreement must strip the voter registration provision from the homeland security funding bill.

The hardline stance on both sides reflected the extent to which the shutdown had become a proxy war over two issues — immigration enforcement spending and voting rights — that are deeply foundational to each party’s base and identity. Several moderate senators from both parties attempted Thursday to restart negotiations around a compromise that would fund the TSA and other essential DHS functions through a separate continuing resolution while leaving the broader SAVE Act debate for separate legislation, but neither party’s leadership showed interest in the proposal.

President Trump issued a statement Thursday afternoon blaming congressional Democrats exclusively for the shutdown and accusing them of caring more about protecting illegal immigrants and ballot integrity loopholes than about the federal workers and American travelers being harmed. The statement hardened the White House’s public posture and appeared to signal that the administration would not be pushing Senate Republicans toward a compromise in the near term. The president’s political advisers have reportedly calculated that the shutdown accrues to the administration’s benefit by keeping immigration and border security at the center of the national political conversation.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, also part of the Department of Homeland Security, was operating under the shutdown with a skeleton crew, raising concerns among emergency management professionals about the federal government’s capacity to respond to a major natural disaster or other emergency. With hurricane season three months away and the spring tornado season already underway across the central United States, several state emergency management directors sent a joint letter to Congress Thursday urging an immediate resolution of the shutdown before it compromised the nation’s disaster preparedness.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, another DHS component affected by the shutdown, was also showing signs of strain. Several land ports of entry along the northern and southern borders reported reduced staffing and longer processing times for commercial freight, contributing to supply chain delays that came on top of disruptions already caused by the global energy crisis. The American Trucking Associations estimated the combined impact of the DHS shutdown and the Iran-related energy price shock had added more than $12 per mile to average long-haul shipping costs over the past six weeks.

Several Republican senators facing competitive reelection campaigns in 2028 were beginning to show signs of impatience with the prolonged standoff. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Susan Collins of Maine both declined Thursday to endorse the majority leader’s take-it-or-leave-it approach, and Collins was reported to be in direct talks with several Democratic colleagues about a possible stopgap measure. Whether those conversations could produce anything capable of passing the Senate and receiving a presidential signature in the coming days remained deeply uncertain.

The American public’s patience with the shutdown appeared to be wearing thin, according to polling data released Thursday by a nonpartisan research organization. A survey conducted over the prior week found that 61 percent of respondents wanted Congress to pass a clean funding bill to reopen DHS immediately, even if it meant deferring the SAVE Act debate, a figure up from 54 percent three weeks earlier. The public’s appetite for a resolution appeared to be growing faster than either party’s willingness to provide one.