The Democrat Agenda: Undermining Homeland Security, Empowering Threats
Washington, D.C. – The Senate Democrat-led shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security has dragged on for more than 70 days – and counting. It is the longest shutdown in American history. Despite terrorist-linked attacks in U.S. communities and another attempt on President Trump’s life just last weekend, Senate Democrats – rallied by Chuck Schumer – continue to deny full, reliable funding to key security agencies and operations.
For 57% of Fiscal Year 2026, DHS employees have been furloughed or working without guaranteed pay. Critical agencies have been operating with limited resources. These operations combat terrorism, cybercrime, and drug smuggling, as well as help Americans through natural disasters. Even the Secret Service who stopped this weekend’s assassination attempt are working without stable funding behind them. And impacts like not being able to buy new flood insurance policies, or cancelations of critical frontline trainings for law enforcement and first responder have jeopardized public safety and services for Americans across the nation.
All the while, our nation's enemies have not been taking a break. Adversaries like Iran and Russia seek to take advantage of a weakened front of U.S. homeland safeguards, while radicalized and lone-wolf attackers remain an unpredictable threat.
Senate Democrats are deliberately starving DHS of resources – that's a national security failure. Worse yet, as they keep the entirety of the department closed, they are actively advocating to zero out resources for U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It’s a bit unsurprising considering Democrats previously instigated the largest border crisis in modern history. Now that President Trump has regained operational control of our borders and prioritized removing violent criminal aliens from our communities, Chuck Schumer and his radical caucus are choosing to target that progress by stripping funding from the very agencies responsible for securing our borders.
Democrats claim their efforts to disable CBP investments are acceptable because of reconciliation funds available through the Working Families Tax Cuts – a bill not one Democrat supported. While some resources are available, they are not a substitute for full-year appropriations and are far from the “endless” funding stream the liberal left suggests.
In fact, reconciliation funding that has supported pay for DHS employees during the shutdown will run out this weekend.
Despite their delusional talking points, the Democrat shutdown is directly undermining CBP and ICE’s ability to operate at this very moment:
- Confidential Human Sources: Confidential human sources that help CBP and ICE can't be paid, degrading one of our most effective intelligence tools.
- Honoring Fallen Firefighters: The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial is located at the National Emergency Training Center in Maryland, which is currently closed due to the shutdown. A 45-year annual tradition honoring fallen firefighters, scheduled for May, is now in jeopardy if DHS remains shut down.
- Air and Marine Maintenance: Critical air and marine maintenance contracts are at risk due to the lapse; aircraft and vessels could be grounded, further weakening our border security.
- Bio-Surveillance Gaps: The National Bio-surveillance Integration Center (NBIC) – reducing awareness of biological threats and shifting burden to frontline personnel.
- Trade Security: Trade enforcement training is suspended, delaying frontline deployments and increasing the risk of unsafe goods entering the U.S.
- Technical Surveillance: Inability to replace or procure equipment limits collection on communications tied to hostile actors, including nefarious Iranian actors.
- Equipment Procurement Halted: CBP and ICE cannot acquire key intelligence and enforcement tools.
- Attrition Risk: Without pay stability, personnel losses continue to rise, creating vulnerabilities across the mission.
- Vendor Instability: Vendor payment has halted during the shutdown, and vendors willingness to provide critical services without payment will decrease the longer the shutdown continues.
- This means risking the care of law enforcement canines, cutting off critical firearms training, and undermining the intelligence capabilities CBP relies on to track criminal networks and detect threats in real time.
- Workforce Livelihoods: Of course, the unpaid workforce is the largest strain on national security operations, as the men and women who perform high-stakes functions to protect the nation are dealing with the added stress of nearly two full months without guaranteed pay.
These aren’t hypotheticals – they are real, escalating risks created by Senate Democrats’ obstruction. Every gap, every delay, every vulnerability falls squarely on their decision to block funding.
This is why DHS must be fully funded. Appropriations is not an à la carte system controlled by the minority party. The full-year FY26 DHS bill has the bipartisan support of both the House and Senate – and would be law today if not for Senate Democrats’ filibuster obstruction. Chuck Schumer is hiding behind procedural maneuvers to block funding while trying to unilaterally dictate which national security functions survive. For someone who chants “no kings” – he sure is acting like one.
Democrat Disruption by the Numbers:
- Democrats repeatedly voted to deny paychecks to more than 290,000 Americans across the nation.
- Over $8 billion has been diverted from critical border security investments to pay the salaries of Coastguardsmen and women, law enforcement professionals, and Transportation Officers because the Democrats won’t open DHS.
- DHS is accruing millions of dollars in interest and penalties due to delayed payments – harming small business and costing the American taxpayer.
Democrats need to face reality: shutdowns aren’t governing. Senate Democrats continue to put the American people at risk with a prolonged shutdown of our national security agencies.
The House has now passed full funding for DHS with bipartisan votes on several separate occasions. It's time for Senate Democrats to do the right thing and fund our national security – in full.
Anything less is an abandonment of homeland security and a failure to meet the most basic Article I responsibility to fund and defend the United States.
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