Here’s The Price Americans Pay If Dems Shut Down DHS At Midnight
An impending shutdown is expected to wreck a slate of federal agencies beginning Saturday as Democrats refuse to get behind a funding agreement. As negotiations over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding…
An impending shutdown is expected to wreck a slate of federal agencies beginning Saturday as Democrats refuse to get behind a funding agreement.
As negotiations over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding continue to stall over Democrat demands for sweeping immigration enforcement reform, the likelihood of a partial shutdown appears all but certain. The stalemate continues as congressional Democrats insist on major changes for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and policies, demands that GOP lawmakers say are tacitly designed to hamstring deportation officers.
The shutdown would be widespread, according to internal DHS documentation obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Beyond affecting pay for employees across the department, the fallout is expected to hit agencies far outside the scope of federal immigration enforcement, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and elsewhere.
“DHS essential missions and functions will continue as they do during every shutdown,” a DHS spokesperson stated to the DCNF. “However, during a shutdown, many employees will be forced to work without pay, putting strain on the frontline defenders of our nation.”
The Senate on Thursday failed to advance a full-year appropriations bill for DHS after Democrats followed through on their pledge to withhold their votes until their lengthy demands were met, with Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman being the lone Democrat to break ranks and support the DHS funding bill. The 52-47 vote fell short of a filibuster-proof majority, making it very likely that DHS will undergo a shutdown by Saturday at 12:01 unless a last-minute deal is reached.