Homeland Security orders furloughed employees back to work amid shutdown

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security has ordered thousands of furloughed employees to return to work despite most of the agency remaining unfunded by Congress amid the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

In a statement to USA TODAY, the agency said it "will be utilizing available funding" to recall its entire workforce. It wasn't clear how many employees in total have been ordered to return to work. The agency, which is among the largest departments in the federal government, employs more than 260,000 people.

The return-to-work notices come after President Donald Trump on April 3 signed a memorandum ordering all DHS employees to receive pay and benefits lost during the partial government shutdown.

In the order, Trump directed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to use funds with “a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them" if not for the shutdown.

Mullin, who replaced former Secretary Kristi Noem in March, said last week that most DHS employees would soon be receiving paychecks.

"We expect most of those checks to be in their banks by Friday," he told CBS News at an event in North Carolina. "Some of the financial institutions may have to wait till Monday, but the majority of everybody will be paid by then."

The secretary, however, warned that future paychecks would depend "on Congress."

DHS has not been fully funded for more than eight weeks. The shutdown continues as Congress remains at odds over how – and under what conditions – to fund the agency.

Although the Senate voted on a bipartisan plan to fund most of the department, there have been unresolved disputes over funding for immigration enforcement and border control policy. Many of the fights escalated after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by immigration officers in Minnesota earlier this year.

The disagreements have divided the House, leaving negotiations stalled with no clear path to end the shutdown in sight. There remains no firm timeline for a House vote to reopen the agency, despite Congress returning from a two-week recess on Monday, April 14.

Contributing: Marc Ramirez and Lori Comstock, USA TODAY Network

(This story was updated to add comment from the Department of Homeland Security.)