President Donald Trump‘s new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin has hailed the former’s executive order to pay the salaries of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, criticizing Democrats for prolonging the shutdown, which is set to enter day 41.

Democrats’ Reckless Shutdown

Quoting a post by the White House’s Rapid Response handle, Mullin hailed the decision by Trump to pay the salaries of the TSA employees. Mullin thanked Trump for “finding a way” to pay the TSA agents’ salaries and ending the “chaos” at airports across the U.S.

Mullin then criticized the Democratic Party lawmakers. “These hours long lines and thousands of Americans missing their flights was caused solely by the Democrats reckless @DHSgov shutdown,” he said in the post.

He added that workers from agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) were still unpaid.

“The Democrats must stop playing political games with our national security, quit punishing our employees, and re-open DHS,” he said. Mullin, who recently took office, replaced Kristi Noem, who was ousted as the Homeland Security Secretary following a $220 million government advertising campaign.

Elon Musk’s TSA Offer, Elizabeth Warren’s Criticism

The news comes as the White House formally rejected an offer by Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk to cover the salaries of the TSA employees amid the shutdown. The rejection came as the administration cited legal challenges with such a move.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), on the other hand, accused Trump and the GOP of holding TSA employees’ salaries “hostage” to force Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which mandates voters need to prove their American citizenship by showing a government ID when casting ballots.

Warren also shared that Trump’s war in Iran was causing great difficulties for Americans with rising gas prices at the pump as well as jet fuel costs, which could lead to a surge in air fares, according to United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) CEO Scott Kirby.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Photo courtesy: David Tran Photo / Shutterstock.com