Former acting DHS secretary blasts Democrats’ shutdown threat over DHS funding

Former Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf blasted Senate Democrats’ decision to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — a move that could trigger a government shutdown amid fallout from the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

“Democrats want to shut down the government … because ICE is doing the job Congress asked them to do,” Wolf said Saturday, calling the party’s logic “bizarre” on “The Big Weekend Show.”

“Instead of saying, ‘Hey, let’s pass a bunch of reforms for ICE or let’s try to get them through the Senate. I don’t think it’s going to get there. Let’s try to do all those things,’ all they can come up with is, ‘We’re going to shut down the government.'”

SENA ADVANCES $174 BILLION PACKAGE AS MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING FEEDS DHS FUNDING FIGHT

Chad Wolf, former Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), left, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, July 9, 2021. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, speaks to the media during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, December 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Upper House Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plan to vote against legislation that would fund DHS after the deadly Minneapolis shootings shattered a fragile truce on the issue.

Schumer argued that the current bill – which was negotiated with bipartisan input – remains “woefully insufficient” to curb alleged abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and vowed that Democrats would block its passage as long as DHS funding was included, significantly increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown as the Jan. 30 funding deadline approaches.

HOUSE CONFUSES SENA BY ATTACHING REPEAL OF JACK SMITH PROVISION TO $1.2T FUNDING PACKAGE

The Department of Homeland Security seal is seen on a podium used by then-Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan as he announces new rules on how migrant children and families are treated in federal custody at the Ronald Reagan Building August 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Wolf said the partial shutdown, which would mean only agencies that Congress has not yet funded would have to reduce or cease their functions, could potentially make ICE and Border Patrol agents “less safe” but would not “deter them from carrying out their mission.”

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“They have resources at the department. Obviously, they have the One Big, Beautiful Bill that passed. [and] gave Border Patrol and ICE a significant amount of resources. They will most likely be on a continuing resolution. If the government shuts down, most of them will be exempt, allowing them to continue providing national security and taking criminals off the streets. »

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Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind of Fox News contributed to this report.