Former President Barack Obama’s Homeland Security chief urged Congress to “stop the madness” and end the month-long government shutdown by funding the protection agency and paying its workers.
“I’m not taking sides. But I am going to say this: The most basic function of our government and our Congress is to appropriate money. Keep the lights on. Keep the government functioning,” former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said Sunday on 77 WABC radio’s the “Cats Roundtable” program.
“Our Congress and our President are failing to do that right now. We are in a time when, because of the war with Iran, a heightened threat environment [exists].”
He said “we’ve got to stop with these funding fights” that have spiraled out of control, causing massive lines for travelers at airports because unpaid Transportation Security Administration workers are not showing up.
“It used to be annual. Now it’s occurring several times a year [agency shutdowns], and I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse unless somebody, through strong leadership, intervenes and says, ‘Stop the madness.’ And you can’t punish the workers, it’s not their fault,” Johnson, a Democrat, told host John Catsimatidis.
Senate Democrats led by New York’s Chuck Schumer have refused to fund DHS amid a dispute with House Republicans and President Trump over reforms at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is part of DHS.
Calls for an overhaul of ICE escalated after two US citizens were killed during protests of immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis in January.
ICE is not impacted by the partial shutdown, but TSA screeners — who make an average of $45,000 per year — haven’t been paid since mid-February as a result.
DHS “exists to protect the American people … Now more than ever, we need to fund this Department, which is the third-largest department of our government. We need to get out of the business of linking policy disagreements with funding the government,” Johnson said.
“Separate the two. Go have the debate about masks, about judicial warrants versus administrative warrants … But decouple that from funding and paying the workforce.”
Johnson said DHS workers “do an invaluable service” to keep American safe, and they deserve to get paid.
He particularly stressed the importance of workers with the TSA.
More than 360 TSA staffers have quit since the start of the shutdown.
“They are there to look for bombs on the airplane you and your family are about to get on. There needs to be an appropriation to fund this,” he said.
“How many sectors of American life can you tell a worker: ‘Go to work, but I’m not going to pay you’? Almost none – except for the United States government.”
Senate Democrats blocked a bill on Friday to fund DHS.
Meanwhile, Trump announced Sunday that ICE officers will be deployed to airports to help clear the horrendous security lines for the TSA, which ran out of funding more than a month ago because of the shutdown.
The move is meant to speed up security lines, which have stretched up to three hours at some airports as TSA agents walk off the job or call out sick because they haven’t been paid in weeks.
“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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