The Americans are furious, and rightly so.
The bickering between Democrats and Republicans in Congress has led to a partial shutdown of our government and a lot of inconvenience for millions of Americans traveling during spring break. It’s an outrage.
Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, to show their anger over the deportation activities in Minnesota that left two protesters dead. But ICE is funded through 2029; The Democrats’ stubbornness is senseless, but painful. Cutting off funding to the Transportation Security Administration and other parts of DHS unrelated to border control has crippled airport security.
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Republicans refuse to accommodate Democrats’ showboating; they block efforts to fund only those parts of DHS that Hakeem Jeffries and his colleagues agree to, including the TSA.
I say fix this. With wait times at airports stretching into several hours and security lines snaking around terminals, Congress must do its job.
There’s a reason Congress’s popularity is in the gutter. Gallup’s latest read on how Americans view Congress shows that only 16% approve of the work of our members of the House of Representatives and Senate. 16%! That’s one of the worst ratings ever, surpassed only by the 14% approval rating Congress earned when it shut down last November. The lowest approval rating ever – an abysmal 9% – was recorded in November 2013, during yet another federal budget impasse. There’s a message in that: get started.
Surveys show that NFL replacement referees, colonoscopies and toenail fungus are among the many items more popular than Congress. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer may be less amused to learn that ICE — the agency Democrats love to hate — also has higher approval ratings than Congress.
Americans are divided over who is to blame for the TSA nightmare. Republicans blame Democrats, who have now shut down our government four times in the last eighteen months. Schumer seems convinced that opposing President Trump is his most important mission: the country is doomed. Polls over the past year have shown that Democrats are angry that their lawmakers are not doing more to block Trump’s agenda. Schumer, along with his colleague Hakeem Jeffries in the House of Representatives, is responding to these polls by refusing to pay TSA, FEMA and some Coast Guard personnel. It’s a bad way to treat hundreds of thousands of hardworking government employees.
Republicans have rejected Democrats’ offer to fund only parts of DHS, including the TSA, confident that Schumer et al. will allow the lapse in ICE and Border Patrol funding to continue indefinitely. Democrats have so demonized the agencies responsible for protecting our border that not paying the people who track down child traffickers and people on the terrorist watch list seems like a winning strategy.
This is despite the fact that our country has suffered no fewer than four terrorist attacks in recent weeks and is still in danger thanks to the war with Iran and four years in which President Joe Biden has allowed millions to cross our border unchecked. It is unconscionable for Democrats to deny their fellow Americans the protections provided by the Department of Homeland Security, which was created in the ashes of the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to keep us safe. Yes, long TSA lines are aggravating, but the failure to protect our country is a much more serious offense.
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The White House and Republicans have made numerous concessions to Democrats, including requiring ICE agents to wear body cameras and also not allowing enforcement activities in sensitive locations such as schools and churches. In addition, Senator Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s nominee for the new head of Homeland Security to replace Kristi Noem, has indicated that he will agree to further demands from Democrats, such as seeking court orders instead of administrative orders, slowing enforcement activities.
But President Trump and those in charge of ICE will not ban agents from wearing masks. They are required to carry identification and provide it upon request, but wearing masks protects them and their families from doxxing by activists who have decided these federal law enforcement officers are the enemy. ICE agents have come under increasing attack in recent months; there have been examples of pro-immigrant groups publishing their names and home addresses, as well as attacking officers. Apparently Democrats want to encourage more of the same by banning the wearing of masks, which would make ICE agents easier to spot.
This Friday, TSA employees will go without pay for a month. Is it any wonder that many don’t show up for work? Is it any wonder the safety lines just keep getting longer?
The White House is sending ICE agents to airports across the US in an effort to help the TSA, which is struggling with depleted ranks. It will be the ultimate irony when ICE agents meaningfully help airports return to normal. That will likely make Democrats even angrier.
Meanwhile, the American public is nearing a boiling point, furious with both parties for failing to resolve the DHS funding roadblock. Some Republicans (of the RINO variety, such as Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski) are willing to give in to Democrats’ demands and provide funding for the TSA and other non-ICE agencies. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has a better idea, which is to immediately fund the TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard and introduce a new budget bill that could be passed later this year to secure money for ICE.
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Republicans should follow Cruz’s suggestion. They can use the reconciliation process to achieve other high-priority goals, including providing funding for the SAVE Act. By using the reconciliation approach that enabled passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, the slim Republican majority can bypass the filibuster problem and get on with the nation’s work.
That’s a win-win situation, and that’s what the country wants now.
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