Sens. , D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., deflected blame when pressed whether their party should vote to end the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown on Sunday, which has left workers without paychecks for weeks.
“We saw terror attacks in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in Norfolk, Virginia. This morning, the and cargo carriers have written a letter to Congress calling for them to end the shutdown, talking about the importance of American security in the airways,” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Schiff during “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Is it responsible for Democrats to hold up with the threat of terror attacks looming during this conflict?”
Schiff said the ICE from the rest of the funding, and offered to do so multiple times to fund the other agencies affected by the shutdown.
“We offered vote after vote, resolution after resolutionâeven as recently as this weekâto reopen those agencies, to fund them, and the Republicans voted it down. We said, ‘Let’s , let’s fund these other agencies that protect the country,’ and the Republicans, one after another, voted them down. Voted down funding TSA, voted down funding the Coast Guard, voted down funding FEMA. So, Republicans are controlling both houses and the presidency; they can’t very well blame the minority party for their own inability to govern, particularly when they’re voting down Democratic motions to reopen these agencies,” Schiff responded.
CNN’s Jake Tapper confronted Booker with similar questioning and asked, “Isn’t it time for Democrats to reopen and refund DHS?”
Tapper said that Democrats “won the debate” on ICE in some ways, pointing to ‘s firing and Border Czar Tom Homan taking over in Minnesota.
“Democrats have tried multiple times to try to get TSA, CISA, the Coast Guard funded. Republicans have refused, time and time and time again, to fund,” Booker began.
Booker argued that ICE was still doing “reckless things,” and added, “I will not approve another dollar for ICE given all that they’re doing. But we should be funding those TSA agents that keep us safe, CISA, Coast Guard, and for Republicans to refuse to do it is unacceptable.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also put blame on Republicans during an interview with Tapper on Sunday.Â
“I think Republicans should stop blocking the Democratic proposals to fund all of DHS, including TSA and other parts, except for the parts that should be negotiated over, which is ICE and Customs and Border Patrol,” he said.Â
accusing Republicans of walking away from attempts to shrink the size of a partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14, arguing that the impasse over funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesnt need to hold up funding for other agencies.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said last week that the Democrats were “totally ready to fund FEMA, TSA, Coast Guard, other elements,” but that ICE was continuing to “misbehave.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, scoffed at what they view as Democratic calls to avoid the heart of the gridlock.
“Thats extremely hypocritical because weve already funded ICE,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, noting that the agency had already received allocations through Trumps Big Beautiful Bill last year.
“So, the only thing theyre doing is hurting the air-traveling public through TSA. Theyre hurting them and not accomplishing what theyre saying theyre trying to accomplish. Its shameful,” Cornyn said.
