EXCLUSIVE: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this,” Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran.
Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump’s immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.
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House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown.
That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.
“We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home,” Scalise said. “So we’re bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security.”
The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.
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However, Scalise said “any responsible member of Congress” should vote for the legislation this time.
“The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time,” he said.
DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
While it’s most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.
Scalise pointed out that it’s also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.
“We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events,” he said. “And that was before Iran.”
Steve Scalise rips Democrats for ‘playing political games’ with DHS shutdown amid Iran threat 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-03-03 15:55:51 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
