The Senate agreed early Friday to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to end a standoff in Congress that has led to massive lines and wait times at many airports around the country.
The lines were the result of Transportation Security Administration workers going more than a month without full paychecks, leading nearly 500 to quit and a skyrocketing number of others to call out of work.
The TSA is part of the DHS.
Shortly after 2 a.m., Senators approved a measure by unanimous consent that funds all of the DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, terms Democrats had been insisting on.
They've been demanding changes in immigration enforcement policies.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters later he thinks "that ship has sailed, and they kind of kissed that opportunity goodbye by ... failing to provide funding for those agencies."
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech after the funding passed that, "Democrats held firm in our opposition that Donald Trump's rogue and deadly militia (referring to ICE) should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those."
The House still has to pass the legislation.
The Senate action came hours after President Trump said he would sign an executive order to resume pay for TSA workers.
