Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Senate Democrat to vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Now, he is accusing fellow Democrats of choosing party over country.
“This shutdown literally has zero impact on ICE functionality,” Fetterman wrote on X Thursday,
“Country over party is refusing to hit the entire Department of Homeland Security. Democracy demands a way forward to reform ICE without damaging our critical national security agencies.”
Watch:
Other Senate Democrats are seeking stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota.
Fetterman believed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his party were missing the point.
“ICE has $75B in funding from Trump BBB that I did not vote for. Shutting DHS down has zero impact and zero changes for ICE. But it will hit FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency,” Fetterman said.
Their refusal to fund DHS has made a partial government shutdown affecting only DHS inevitable.
The deadline to strike a deal is midnight Friday, but many from both chambers of Congress are leaving for the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
“As a Democrat, I can’t vote to shut down critical parts of our government,” he said.
