Trump Ridicules Schumer For Accidentally Demanding Funding For ICE
President Donald Trump took advantage of a verbal slip-up by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday to tease him about ending a partial government shutdown.
Democrats have delayed funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, with the latest effort to fund the entire department failing to reach the required 60-vote threshold on Friday. In a speech on the Senate floor Saturday, Schumer called for an end to the shutdown. (RELATED: Elon Musk offers to pay salaries of TSA agents working in government funding impasse)
“We have to defund ICE, we have to defund the TSA,” Schumer said in the video clip of the speech that Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday morning.
“Schumer was ‘baffled’ on the Senate floor yesterday and said, ‘WE HAVE TO FUND THE ICE,’ before correcting himself. Thanks Chuck, I agree!” Trump wrote in his message.
The effects of the shutdown were most visible in the form of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees calling in to quit their jobs or quitting, leading to long lines at airports. DHS began subjecting agencies, including the TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to “emergency measures” in response to the shutdown.
Democrats have notably argued that they support programs to fully fund other agencies under DHS, such as TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard – as long as those programs do not fund ICE and CBP.
Party leaders in Congress demanded new restrictions on ICE after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in January during clashes between the agency and groups opposed to federal immigration enforcement. The various incidents occurred amid the deployment of hundreds of federal agents to Minnesota in response to reports of welfare fraud involving Somali migrants.
Democrats’ demands include calls for ICE agents to stop wearing masks and for agents to obtain court warrants before entering private property.
On Sunday, Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace DHS security Kristi Noem advanced to a final vote in the Senate as Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico bucked their party in favor of the nominee.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available free to any legitimate news publisher capable of delivering a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and DCNF affiliation. For questions about our guidelines or our partnership, please contact licenses@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
