WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will soon sign an executive order to provide back pay to Department of Homeland Security employees who have gone without pay during the partial government shutdown, which has reached 48 days. Trump made the announcement in a social media post in which he blamed Democrats for the funding impasse and thanked Republican leaders for their work to end the standoff.

"Their families have suffered far too long," Trump said. "Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country."

The order is expected to apply to non-law enforcement employees at DHS, including Federal Emergency Management Agency employees and U.S. Coast Guard support staff. Civilian Coast Guard workers, FEMA workers, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency employees worked without pay during the shutdown. Many thousands of DHS employees continued reporting to work during the shutdown without receiving paychecks.

Trump previously used a similar maneuver to resume pay for Transportation Security Administration employees during the shutdown. Many TSA employees had called out from work, resulting in long delays at airport security lines. After Trump signed an executive order last week to pay TSA workers, they began receiving paychecks and airport security bottlenecks began clearing. Employees of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection received pay during the shutdown through separate funding.

On Capitol Hill, both chambers of Congress met for a few minutes in pro forma sessions on Thursday without passing any resolution. Congress left Washington last week for its spring recess without resolving the DHS funding lapse. The House met briefly without taking up a Senate plan that would fund most of DHS but exclude its immigration enforcement operations. The House had previously rejected that plan.

Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced they would support the Senate measure that funds most of DHS except ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. Republican leaders and Trump agreed on a two-step plan to fully fund the department. Thune had set aside the House plan to fund the entire department for 60 days. "I don't know the particulars around what the House will do with it. My assumption is, at some point, hopefully, they'll move it," Thune said.

"The thing that some people want to do, we can't do. And so you have to figure out what's in the realm of the possible. And you have to just continue to define reality for people," Thune said. House Republicans planned to hold a conference call later Thursday to discuss next steps in ending the shutdown.

Republicans plan to use the budget reconciliation process to fund ICE and CBP through separate party-line spending legislation that could take months to complete. Trump said he wants that legislation on his desk by June 1 and has called for the budget package to fund the agencies through the remainder of his term.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the approach. "Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Schumer said.