President Donald Trump declared Sunday night that Republicans should refuse any deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security until Democrats agree to pass the SAVE America Act, a voter ID bill requiring proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to vote. The demand, posted to Truth Social, effectively ties the fate of 50,000 unpaid TSA workers and a 37-day partial government shutdown to a bill that doesn’t have the votes to clear the Senate.

The DHS shutdown began February 14 after Senate Democrats refused to approve the department’s budget without reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The standoff traces back to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by federal agents during an immigration operation in Minneapolis. Democrats want judicial warrants for home raids, mandatory body cameras, a ban on agents wearing masks, and compliance with local investigations. The White House has offered limited concessions, but Democrats say they fall short on the core demands.

Trump’s move merges that fight with the SAVE America Act, which passed the House 218-213 in February. Voting rights groups including the Brennan Center for Justice warn the bill could disenfranchise millions. More than 21 million Americans lack ready access to citizenship documents like passports or birth certificates, and 2.6 million lack any government-issued photo ID. Low-income and Black voters are disproportionately affected. Noncitizen voting is already illegal and vanishingly rare, but Trump has made the bill a centerpiece of his midterm strategy.

Meanwhile, the airport crisis is worsening. More than 400 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began, and callout rates have hit 51% at Houston’s Hobby Airport and nearly 30% at JFK. Hobby has advised passengers to arrive four to five hours before their flights. Some Philadelphia checkpoints have closed entirely. Trump responded by deploying ICE agents to airports, with officers expected at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson on Monday for crowd management.

Republicans are fracturing over the path forward. Sen. Ted Cruz has proposed splitting ICE funding from the rest of DHS to ease the airport crisis, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune has threatened to cancel Easter recess if no deal is reached. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania remains the only Democrat willing to vote with Republicans on DHS funding. Democrats have blocked the bill five times, holding firm on ICE reform.

If no deal comes before the Senate’s scheduled recess on March 30, this shutdown will stretch past 60 days and become the longest in U.S. history. For Black travelers stuck in security lines, TSA workers selling plasma to cover bills, and voters who could face new barriers at the ballot box, the stakes keep climbing.