'Lone Star showdown': GOP’s Cornyn gets into a fight with Texas congressman

Thomas Kika
16 March

Democratic Rep. Greg Casar (left) and Republican Rep. John Cornyn (right) argue outside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, March 16, 2026. (Image: Screengrab via CSPAN)

Two Texas congressmen — Democrat Greg Casar and Republican John Cornyn — engaged in a tense argument about the ongoing DHS shutdown outside an Austin airport on Monday, with one reporter likening it to a "Lone Star showdown."

Cornyn, who is looking to keep his visibility high as he battles through a heated GOP Senate primary, made a planned stop at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Monday, delivering burgers to TSA screeners working without pay amid the continued shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. The House GOP leader has laid the blame for the shutdown on Democrats, who are demanding new rules to rein in the agency's immigration enforcement as part of the funding bill. The Democrats have notably put forward partial funding bills to pay TSA employees and other non-immigration DHS workers, but Republicans have blocked these efforts.

Casar, a Democrat from Texas's 34th District and an outspoken progressive, confronted Cornyn during the visit, prompting a heated back-and-forth about the shutdown, which was caught on video and shared to social media by CSPAN. Casar called on Cornyn to back a partial TSA funding bill, which he, in turn, said was "not acceptable" and called for Democrats to back a full DHS funding measure.

"Why don't you tell your Democrats to vote to pay these poor people?" Cornyn said as he arrived at the airport. "I've voted for it time and time again."

"There is a bipartisan bill to fund just the TSA. Can we do that together?" Casar asked in response.

After calling the suggestion "not acceptable," Cornyn referenced "terrorist attacks" on Austin's 6th Street, likely referring to a recent mass shooting incident that left 15 injured and killed four, including the gunman. The Republican claimed that DHS helped keep people safe, before walking away from Casar and ignoring his attempts to speak further.

Later on, inside the airport, Cornyn told reporters, "They decided not to pay the men and women that are keeping us safe in our airports and in our skies in order to try to extract some political advantage."

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