The House committee on homeland security has held a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown with officials from its affected agencies.
The lapse in funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has lasted 40 days with little end in sight.
Democratic representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the ranking member of the House homeland security committee, opened the hearing with a reminder about the violence caused by ICE, a branch of the partially shut down department of homeland security, earlier this year.
“Democrats want to ensure that before we give even more money to ICE and CBP, which is already flush with cash, that we rein in the deadly abuses we saw in Minneapolis. We owe Renee Good and Alex Pretti that much as Good’s family implored the committee in a letter this week.”
Bennie Thompson
Thompson went on to say he was “extremely troubled” by the deployment of ICE to several US airports as the TSA is overwhelmed. “These agents cannot do TSA’s job, nor should they,” he said.
“And they aren’t trained to do it. So we see images of ICE agents standing around or walking through terminals, doing nothing to reduce the lines at security checkpoints, while TSA personnel continue to do their jobs without pay because Republicans refuse to vote for legislation to fund TSA. It’s ridiculous and maddening, but not surprising.”
Bennie Thompson
During opening remarks, the Republican Chair of the House homeland security committee, Andrew Garbarino, said that the shutdown has caused “massive disruptions” across airports, “weakened our nation’s cybersecurity posture” and “left states unsupported with less than 100 days until the start of major events across the United States, such as FIFA World Cup.”
Garbarino continued to blame his colleagues across the aisle for employees across affected agencies going without pay.
“The shutdown is not a game, and frankly, I’m tired of it being treated like one. Mistakes are too high, we owe it to the American people to stop the political games to fund DHS and to get back to regular order.”
Andrew Garbarino
On Tuesday, Democrats remained unimpressed by Republican lawmakers’ latest proposal to end the partial shutdown of the DHS – which would not include any funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
This comes after top brass of the Republican party met with Donald Trump to formulate an offer that would hold off appropriating funds for federal immigration enforcement, and save that for another budget bill.
Since ICE received $75bn through Trump’s sweeping policy bill last year, it’s been largely protected from the expired funds that have affected other agencies within the DHS.
Democrats argue that Republicans’ recent plans don’t contain any guardrails on officers, which they have been demanding for months, since the fatal shooting of two US citizens during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
US Airports Continue To See Long Lines And Fewer TSA Staff
Meanwhile, US airports continue to see long lines and fewer TSA staff amid partial DHS shutdown as the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continued today. Longer-than-usual lines at major US airports have caused turmoil for travelers this week.
Some airports are officially advising travelers to arrive four hours before their scheduled flights as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff, who have been working without pay for over a month, are not reporting for duty amid the standoff.
On Tuesday, Delta partly suspended its speciality service desk for members of Congress until funding for the TSA is restored. The service desk is used to help members of Congress book flights at special government rates, secure airport escorts and make last-minute flight changes.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have attempted to seize on the airport chaos, with each party pointing the finger at the other.
Today, Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Bernie Moreno took to X to blame Democrats for the partial homeland security shutdown over the party’s stance on issues pertaining to ICE.
Cotton said that Senate Democrats want to ban ICE officers from wearing masks “so their left-wing street militias can dox the officers and terrorize the officers’ wives and children at their homes,” adding, “That’s why TSA lines are so long.”
Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono posted a photo of a federal agent on his phone inside an airport while a long line amassed outside. It was unclear where this photo was taken or obtained. She noted, “There is NO need for ICE at our airports.”
READ ALSO: Gulf States Slam Iranian Attacks In Emergency Meeting
