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TMZ Posts Lawmakers’ Vacation Photos as Shutdown Pressure Grows

The tabloid said the images were meant to highlight bipartisan frustration as the shutdown left DHS workers unpaid for over a month.

  • TMZ has expanded its political coverage with a producer and photographer in Washington, documenting lawmaker activity during the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
  • Seeking to show how Congress has "betrayed" Americans, the outlet published viral images of lawmakers vacationing at Disney World, claiming both Dems AND Republicans abandoned their duties.
  • Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Robert Garcia faced public backlash after TMZ posted photos of them vacationing, while American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100 members remained without pay.
  • President Donald Trump urged leadership to cancel recess "repeatedly," and the White House offered to host an Easter dinner if Congress returns to resolve the impasse.
  • Passing a DHS funding bill remains difficult, Senate Majority Leader John Thune maintains, because the Senate's 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation blocks consensus.
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As TMZ, a Los Angeles-based entertainment and gossip outlet, expands its coverage to Washington D.C., paparazzi photos of lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties are flooding in. This media outlet, famous for its exclusive and breaking news coverage of celebrity scandals and paparazzi—much like Korea's Dispatch—has turned its attention to the capital to pressure for budget allocations amidst the Department of Homeland Security …

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Political Wire broke the news in New York, United States on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.
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