Former acting ICE Director and current White House Border Czar Tom Homan blasted congressional Democrats over the ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding standoff, accusing lawmakers of trying to strong-arm policy changes by withholding funding.
Speaking on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; Homan said the dispute is not about budgetary constraints, but about efforts to curb immigration enforcement.
WATCH:
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&#8220;President Trump wants the entire <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHSgov</a> funded,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/RealTomHoman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealTomHoman</a>.
&#8220;They&#8217;re holding the department hostage because they don&#8217;t like what ICE is doing — and ICE is enforcing laws they enacted.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/bMDcSIJ7IB">pic.twitter.com/bMDcSIJ7IB</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2038246477261119706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“President Donald Trump wants the entire Department of Homeland Security funded. He wants the government open and funded,” Homan said. “But the bottom line is they want changes in ICE tactics. They want changes in policy.” Homan argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is simply carrying out laws that have remained consistent across multiple administrations.
“The same laws ICE follows today have been in place during the Clinton, Obama [administrations], and now,” he said. “The law hasn’t changed.” According to Homan, lawmakers are privately pushing to limit arrests rather than openly advocating for abolishing ICE.
“They can say they don’t want to abolish ICE — I’m in the room,” he said. “They want to change operations so we arrest fewer people.” The remarks come as Congress remains locked in a dispute over DHS funding, with negotiations increasingly tied to immigration enforcement demands. Some lawmakers have pushed for additional oversight measures and operational restrictions, including expanded use of body cameras and clearer guidelines around enforcement locations.
Homan noted that ICE has already engaged in discussions on some of those issues, including funding for body cameras, which he said has been allocated at roughly $120 million. But he rejected claims that agents are routinely targeting sensitive locations such as churches or hospitals.
“They can’t point to a single instance—not one—where we’ve arrested anybody in a church or inside of a hospital,” Homan said. “We already practice discretion. We don’t do operations there unless there’s a significant national security threat.”
He added that while discussions over enforcement practices could continue, they should not come at the expense of funding the department. “Why can’t these discussions continue while we keep the Department of Homeland Security open?” Homan said. “They’re holding the department hostage because they don’t like what ICE is doing.”
At the center of the dispute is a fundamental divide between the House and Senate over whether immigration enforcement agencies should be fully funded. The Senate passed a bipartisan measure to reopen most of DHS but excluded funding for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection, an approach backed by Democrats but rejected by House Republicans. 
House Republicans instead pushed a short-term <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/28/us-house-stopgap-dhs-funding-bill-republicans-senate?">funding bill</a> that includes full funding for ICE, arguing that enforcement agencies should not be carved out of appropriations. That measure passed narrowly but faces strong opposition in the Senate, prolonging the stalemate. 
The deadlock has had tangible consequences across the country. Tens of thousands of DHS employees, particularly Transportation Security Administration workers, have gone without pay for weeks, leading to staffing shortages, airport delays, and mounting pressure on the administration to act. 
President Trump has attempted to mitigate the fallout by signing an emergency order to ensure TSA agents receive pay, which Homan later <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/29/us-news/tom-homan-reveals-when-tsa-will-start-getting-paid-again-following-trumps-executive-order/?">said</a> during the interview “There is a plan to get these TSA agents paid, hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday,” but many other DHS functions remain affected as lawmakers continue to clash over immigration policy and enforcement reforms. 
Democrats have insisted that any long-term funding deal must include new restrictions or oversight on ICE operations, while Republicans argue that such demands amount to undermining existing law enforcement authority, mirroring the criticism Homan leveled in his interview.
Homan framed the dispute as a fundamental separation-of-powers issue, arguing that Congress should change the law if it disagrees with enforcement outcomes.
“If they don’t like what ICE is doing, then change the law,” he said. “That’s their job.”
As negotiations continue, the standoff underscores a broader clash in Washington over immigration enforcement, one that is increasingly spilling into funding battles with real consequences for federal agencies and the everyday Americans they employ.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan Torches Congress As DHS Fight Hits Boiling Point

Government Shutdown

Politics

State of the Union

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel defended his jabs at newly-sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, saying that his intent had not been to insult plumbers, only to say that he didn&#8217;t believe Mullin was qualified to hold his current post.
Kimmel began by blaming President Donald Trump for the backlash he&#8217;d received, noting that Trump had complained about him while &#8220;The Five&#8221; on Fox News earlier that day.
&#8220;[The president&#8217;s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light of the fact that his new head of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, before he was a senator, was a plumber,&#8221; Kimmel said, and then he doubled down. &#8220;And now he&#8217;s the head of Homeland Security. Which is not necessarily the kind of resume you might hope for, for the person in charge of protecting us from terrorism.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Jimmy Kimmel tried to clean up his comments about Markwayne Mullin being a former plumber, but he tried to have it both ways. First he doubled down ignoring Mullin&#8217;s management experience with his plumbing company &#8220;[Trump&#8217;s] apple polishers are all in a tizzy because I made light… <a href="https://t.co/3zqd1AG6r9">pic.twitter.com/3zqd1AG6r9</a>
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexchristy17/status/2037514802621305124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Listen, let me make this very clear: I&#8217;m not upset that the head of homeland security used to be a plumber,&#8221; Kimmel said on Thursday&#8217;s broadcast. &#8220;I&#8217;m upset that he isn&#8217;t still a plumber.&#8221;
&#8220;Of course [conservatives] decided to twist that to say it was an insult to plumbers, which it was not,&#8221; Kimmel continued, saying that he had meant to draw attention to Mullin&#8217;s qualifications. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t put a plumber in charge of homeland security for the same reason I wouldn&#8217;t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet &#8230; We all have our areas of expertise.&#8221;
Kimmel went even further, suggesting that what he was doing was no different from those who were critical of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez — who previously worked as a bartender — and suggested that she was more qualified to serve drinks than to serve in Congress.
&#8220;Well, on behalf of bartenders everywhere, we anxiously await your apology,&#8221; he said.
What Kimmel left out — both in his initial comments about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-mocks-markwayne-mullins-blue-collar-roots">Mullin</a> and the follow up — was that Mullin went to work at his family&#8217;s plumbing business at just 20 years old, leaving college to take over due to his father&#8217;s illness. He proceeded to take the small family business and expand it to a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Kimmel Mullin Blendy

Kimmel Responds To Backlash Over Mullin Plumber Dig

Jimmy Kimmel

Markwayne Mullin

Media

Airport travelers and TSA agents took a sigh of relief when news broke that President Donald Trump had authorized funding for TSA via executive order, but the airport chaos left in its wake will not be fixed immediately.
Aviation experts indicate that noticeable improvements in security lines could begin within <a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/long-tsa-return-normal-shutdown-204351767.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">24 to 48</a> hours once funding is restored on Monday and back pay reaches the roughly 50,000 TSA officers who have gone without pay since the shutdown began in mid-February.
The shutdown caused dramatic callouts among TSA officials, with some airports reporting over <a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/tsa-forced-consolidate-lanes-may-120639220.html">40%</a> of officers not showing up for work. Many officers are expected to return quickly once they receive confirmation of full pay. However, full recovery to pre-shutdown staffing levels and typical wait times may take several days to weeks to return. Almost 500 TSA agents did not just call out sick; they quit their jobs. 
Longer wait times will persist as TSA scrambles to hire and onboard replacements. Due to the training it takes to become a TSA agent, it could be months before the program is fully restored. It takes a TSA agent <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2035521390514680155">4-6 months</a> before they are fully onboarded, trained, and able to work independently. 
TSA Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tsa-warns-longstanding-shutdown-fallout-even-after-funding-clears-major-event-could-make-it-worse">warned</a> that the impacts will be “long-standing,” with payroll processing delays and reduced morale continuing to affect operations even after the Senate-approved funding bill clears final hurdles. &#8220;I can tell you right now that the reverberations that will be felt from this will be long-standing. They will continue for days after we get a re-appropriation and funding, particularly for the department for TSA.” The administrator added, &#8220;But we&#8217;re working as quickly as possible with our partners to make sure once we get that money, we&#8217;ll hit the ground running and get that into our people&#8217;s pockets as quickly as possible.&#8221;
TSA officers faced significant financial pressure, with many relying on food donations and taking second jobs while continuing their work. Several communities even set up GoFundMe Accounts to help the agents. President Trump signed the executive order to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-to-pay-tsa-agents?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Signs+Executive+Order+To+Pay+TSA+Agents">pay</a> TSA agents early Friday, authorizing DHS to redirect funds to the agency that have a “reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations.”
“Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do!” he explained on Truth Social. “Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer.”
While TSA is now temporarily funded, the partial shutdown negotiations drag on, with the House expected to kill the shutdown deal passed by the Senate, arguing it cannot be passed without full funding for ICE and Border Patrol.

Long lines form outside Atlanta International Airport

Trump Just Funded TSA. Here’s When You Can Expect Shorter Lines At Airports.

TSA Funded. Here’s When Shorter Lines Are Coming

Executive Orders

Shutdown

Trump Administration

You want to know why we are having all this trouble with the TSA?
One word: Democrats.
The standoff over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, continues. People are waiting for hours at airports because of it. 
According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/03/25/nx-s1-5760981/tsa-wait-times-lines">NPR</a>:
<blockquote>The Transportation Security Administration is experiencing the longest wait times ever in its 24-year history because of the ongoing partial shutdown, the agency&#8217;s deputy administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Wait times at some major airports have exceeded four hours, and employees at those airports are calling out of work at rates of 40% to 50%, McNeill told members of the committee. If this partial government shutdown continues into Friday, TSA will have missed almost $1 billion in paychecks since it began, McNeill said. …</blockquote>
McNeill thanked Trump for sending ICE agents to some major airports, &#8220;enabling TSA officers to focus on carrying out critical security screening duties during this challenging time for our agency.”
TSA may have to close smaller airports due to understaffing, she said, and she worried the agency will continue to lose officers to more steady jobs and fail to attract new talent.
This is crazy town. It&#8217;s insanity.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2397-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
It&#8217;s happening because Democrats have decided that posturing over ICE is more important than basic safety standards and citizen protections all over the United States. 
Senate majority leader John Thune is not wrong when he says that Democrats seem to believe that the current shutdown is good for their left-wing base. For them, it&#8217;s all about politics, and it always has been.
In last fall’s shutdown by the Democrats, the whole government was shut down for 46 days. Remember Chuck Schumer saying, “Every day gets better for us”? Now you have Hawaii senator Brian Schatz, a member of the Democrat leadership in this shutdown, saying. “We are very serene.”
It’s all playing politics and has been from the beginning. They think this is really good with their base. Their left-wing base won&#8217;t take yes for an answer, and so the Democrats won’t either. But they&#8217;re going to have to, because at some point, people will realize that it is the Democrats who are blockading and have been blockading funding to the Department of Homeland Security.
This is very simple. The Democrats are shutting down the Department of Homeland Security. Everyone knows this. All they have to do is pass a clean funding bill for DHS.
Instead, Democrats seem to think they can insult their way to political victory.
Jimmy Kimmel randomly insulted the new DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, for the great crime of being a plumber, which is a weird take from Jimmy Kimmel, who was a shock-jock radio sports guy.
I was informed that it&#8217;s good that AOC was a bartender, but it&#8217;s bad that a senator who is now running DHS was a plumber?
Why?
Democrats are going even harder than that.
Brandon Johnson, the ridiculous mayor of Chicago, debuted his own snowplow truck festooned with a banner stating “Abolish ICE,” because he&#8217;s abolishing genuine ice, but he also wants to abolish ICE. 
Genius-level politicking.
Rep. Thomas Suozzi is arguing for full-scale legalization of illegal immigrants.
Democrats seem to believe that illegal immigrants roaming free is more important than you being able to get to your plane on time.
How pathetic is the Left on these issues?
The Loyola University of Chicago student newspaper —the campus newspaper of murdered student Sheridan Gorman — issued a formal apology for calling her murderer an illegal immigrant.
I&#8217;m not kidding. She was murdered, and the student newspaper stated, “In the body of the original post, we describe the man who was charged as an illegal immigrant using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with the Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper. No human&#8217;s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that. We acknowledge the harm such language can cause, and the power and importance of the words we choose to use.” 
Ridiculous.
No one says that a human&#8217;s existence is illegal. But the term is not illegal human. The term is illegal immigrant.
They are more concerned about the terminology used to address illegal immigration than they are about the fact that an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered one of their students.
The Democrats aren&#8217;t just defending illegal immigration. They&#8217;re defending crime wholesale.
A couple of years ago, we visited the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, which was basically an open-air fentanyl market, one of the most horrifying things I&#8217;ve ever seen in person.
Now, the Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner is threatening to prosecute IRS agents.
This is how crazy Democrats are. They believe that ICE agents ought to be prosecuted, but illegal immigrants ought not, and you should wait in line at the airport because of this.
The open lawbreaking in Philadelphia and the open anti-Americanism are astonishing. Pro-Iran, pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist protesters in Philadelphia even openly celebrated the killing of American troops.
For many of these folks, the lawbreaking is the point. The anti-Americanism is the point.
It makes you wonder on a broader level: Why do so many people in the Democratic Party seem so sanguine about a wide-open border, about importing people that we can&#8217;t vet, about allowing the taxpayer to pay for all these bills?
The answer is that a lot of the people in the Democratic Party are totally fine with anti-Americanism. They like anti-Americanism.
Ilhan Omar, another immigrant we never should have admitted to the United States, showed her wild hatred for America and our allies, ranting:
<blockquote>I&#8217;ve lived through war. I know it is not a game. It is never a one-time cost. It cannot be reduced to a soundbite by politicians who have no regard for the cost of human life when it comes to warfare. War is not paid for a dollar alone. It is paid in the lives of young Americans who we sent to fight this war.</blockquote>
Her pretending that she gives a damn about American soldiers is really galling. This is a woman who wrote a letter of support to a judge for a person who tried to join ISIS. This is a woman who said “something happened to some people” regarding 9/11.
Ilhan Omar has yet to find a terrorist group she cannot find some sort of excuse for.
All of this, of course, is part and parcel of a third-world strategy to undermine the United States. It suggests that people suffering in the Third World are the fault of the United States, and thus the United States must pay.
And all of this falls under the rubric of the Democratic Party not giving a damn about Americans.

Senate GOP Rejects Democrats’ Latest Bid To End DHS Shutdown

You’re In An Endless TSA Line Because Of Democrats

Ben Shapiro

Chuck Schumer

Democrats

John Thune

Opinion

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would sign an order directing the Department of Homeland Security to pay the Transportation Safety Administration despite the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Trump blamed Democrats in the Senate for showing more concern for illegal aliens than for the American people and continuing to block funding for DHS.
&#8220;The Radical Left Democrats, and their &#8216;Leader,&#8217; Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, have made it very clear where they stand, and that is, ON THE SIDE OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, AND NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,&#8221; Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. &#8220;They are refusing to fund Immigration Enforcement unless the Republicans agree to their Open Border Policies, which will never, ever happen again.&#8221;
The president went on to attack Democrats for allowing millions of illegals to enter the United States unvetted during previous administrations: &#8220;They almost destroyed our Country, allowing 25 Million People to enter from Prisons, Mental Institutions, and Insane Asylums, those that are Drug Dealers, and thousands of Murderers, many of whom killed more than one person.&#8221;
Trump concluded with his plan to solve the problem: and executive order that would direct newly-sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA agents immediately.
&#8220;Because the Democrats have recklessly created a true National Crisis, I am using my authorities under the Law to protect our Great Country, as I always will do!&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer.&#8221;
Democrats have repeatedly voted against funding for DHS, demanding reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before they will sign off on the package. Among their demands are judicial warrants for immigration enforcement actions and a ban on masks for federal immigration agents. The resulting partial government shutdown has impacted pay for the TSA in addition to the U.S. Coast Guard and several others agencies.

President Trump Attends Swearing In Ceremony For New DHS Secretary Mullin

Trump Steps In On TSA Pay, Warns Dems Cannot ‘Hold Our Country Hostage’

Trump Steps In On TSA Pay, Warns Dems Cannot 'Hold Our Country Hostage'

Donald Trump

Negotiations on Capitol Hill appear to be at a standstill after both Republicans and Democrats have rejected each other&#8217;s offers to break the stalemate, fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, and put an end to the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Thursday that Democrats are “now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, according to <a href="https://x.com/AlexMillerFox1/status/2037200897663508587?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>, after the Republican told reporters on Wednesday he did not intend on sending another offer.
“It&#8217;s not even close to being real. They know better. They&#8217;re asking for things that have already been turned down. So it just seems like they&#8217;re going in circles,” Thune told reporters on Wednesday regarding the Democrats most recent counteroffer.
He added that there are disagreements over funding for specific parts of ICE, like Enforcement and Removal Operations. In addition, there are continued disputes over the Democrats&#8217; push for an end to masking of agents and their desire to use judicial warrants for most immigration arrests.
“I mean, warrants and masks have never been on the table, and they know that,” Thune said.
The White House also slammed the counteroffer from Democrats, although few details are publicly known about the current proposal.
“It’s laughable that Democrats are now demanding more reforms to an agency they still refuse to fund,” a White House official told The Daily Wire on background on Wednesday evening.
“The Administration has repeatedly tried to work in good faith with the Democrats while always remaining consistent: we want the Department funded and we will continue to enforce the law. This latest stunt from the Democrats proves they are not interested in a serious conversation and they don’t care [that] their shutdown is hurting Americans,” the official added.
As for Schumer, he told <a href="https://x.com/LauraEWeiss16/status/2037184367928250848?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Punchbowl News</a> on Thursday morning that “people are talking” regarding funding, as Democrats in Congress continue to want federal immigration policy reforms made.
&#8220;ICE needs to leave the airports NOW. Trump needs to pay TSA workers NOW, and push Republicans to reach a deal. No intimidation forces at our airports. No more chaos at checkpoints. Enough is enough,&#8221; Schumer <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2036530272858955898?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> on Tuesday in opposition to the president&#8217;s decision to send ICE agents to airports amid a high number of TSA officer callouts.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-senate-republicans-can-end-the-democrat-shutdown-and-still-fund-ice?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Here%E2%80%99s+How+Senate+Republicans+Can+End+The+Democrat+Shutdown+%E2%80%94+And+Still+Fund+ICE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported earlier this week that White House Border Czar Tom Homan was part of bipartisan talks starting last week, and that judicial warrants and masking were expected to be concessions made by Democrats from the list of requests they made regarding immigration enforcement reforms.
President Donald Trump responded to the gridlock by rebooting his calls to end the Senate filibuster rule.
In multiple Truth Social posts on Thursday, the president said that scrapping the filibuster would be the best way to end the wait-time issues at airports and to pass the SAVE America Act, as it would get rid of the 60-vote threshold needed to procedurally move most legislation forward.
“When is ‘enough, enough’ for our Republican Senators,” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295094711655881" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, telling the lawmakers to “Go for the Gold!!!”
&#8220;There comes a time when you must do what should have been done a long time ago, and something which the Lunatic Democrats will do on day one, if they ever get the chance. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and get our airports, and everything else, moving again. Also, add the complete, all five items, SAVE AMERICA ACT items,&#8221; the president added.
In another <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295216341236902" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a>, he expressed his belief that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “will make a deal now because he thinks that if he doesn’t, Republicans will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, something which they should do whether he makes a deal or not!!!&#8221;

President Trump Delivers The State Of The Union Address

Why DHS Funding Negotiations Are Falling Apart

Congress

Immigration

Senate

How many tragic deaths, like that of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman, are we willing to tolerate before enough is enough? How does this keep happening? 
 
Gorman, a freshman at Loyola University Chicago, was fatally shot on March 19th while walking with friends near the school&#8217;s Lake Shore campus by an illegal alien criminal from Venezuela. The group was walking to see the northern lights when a masked gunman emerged from the shadows and opened fire. 
 
The suspect, Jose Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national, has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Why does such a heinous tragedy happen?
The Department of Homeland Security put it bluntly: Sheridan Gorman &#8220;was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who released this illegal alien twice before he went on to commit this heinous murder.&#8221;
While most cities and states are working to undo the disastrous policies of the Biden administration that allowed tens of millions of illegal aliens into the country, certain blue cities are vehemently resisting anything the Trump administration does. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are spearheading this &#8220;resistance&#8221; — and actively making life not only worse for their constituents, but dangerous. 
 
Here are a few of the ways Chicago created the perfect storm that ultimately led to Gorman&#8217;s death.
On a municipal level, Johnson and his cadre of progressives enacted the Welcoming City Ordinance — Chicago&#8217;s primary sanctuary law, which was expanded in 2021 to remove previous &#8220;carve-outs&#8221; that had allowed police to cooperate with ICE in cases involving individuals with felony convictions or those in the gang database. Essentially, police are barred from assisting ICE during operations, ICE agents aren&#8217;t permitted in local jails, and officers are prohibited from asking about a person&#8217;s immigration status during routine interactions.
To make matters worse for citizens — and better for criminals — Mayor Johnson issued an order preventing ICE from using city-owned parking lots, garages, or any other city property for enforcement work.
On a state level, the TRUST Act prohibits state and local law enforcement from detaining any individual based on a federal immigration detainer or administrative warrant. In other words, it&#8217;s nearly impossible for ICE to do their job. 
 
Then there’s the Illinois Way Forward Act (2021), which significantly expanded the TRUST Act by prohibiting state and local government from contracting the federal government to house or detain illegal immigrants, banning local police from transferring individuals into ICE custody without a judicial warrant, and restricting the flow of information to ICE officers about individuals in local custody.
And of course, they signed the Keep Illinois Families Together Act, which restricts ICE from entering schools, health centers, libraries, courthouses, polling locations (strange, considering the leftist claim that noncitizens aren&#8217;t voting), and more.
Those are policies carved out specifically for illegal aliens. But to understand exactly how a criminal, an illegal Venezuelan national, ended up murdering a young American girl, you only need to look at Medina&#8217;s timeline. 
 
Medina entered the U.S. illegally in May of 2023 under Biden. He was apprehended and released into the interior of the country without asylum claims. Just one month later, he was arrested in Chicago for shoplifting — and released from local custody shortly after, because of the very policies listed above. 
 
In September of that same year, he failed to appear for his court date. A warrant was issued but never served. He claims he missed the hearing due to a hospital stay — which means he was receiving free healthcare as an illegal criminal. 
 
And then, not even three years later, he murdered Sheridan Gorman in cold blood. 
 
Medina was a symptom, not an anomaly. Since January 20, 2025 alone, Governor Pritzker&#8217;s sanctuary state of Illinois has released 1,768 criminal illegal aliens with active ICE detainers — including individuals charged or convicted of murder, sexual offenses, and weapons crimes. Another 4,015 criminal non-citizens remain in Illinois custody with detainers that local officials refuse to — or aren&#8217;t allowed to — honor.
If you’re wondering how in the heck this could continue to go on? It will — because these Democrat leaders are tone deaf and are willing to trade their constituents&#8217; and our fellow citizens&#8217; safety for the comfort and protection of criminal illegal aliens. Even after Sheridan’s blood was spilled, Mayor Brandon Johnson doubled down. Just days after the murder, he proudly unveiled a new city snowplow named ‘Abolish ICE’ — while the city was still mourning an 18-year-old Loyola freshman gunned down by a man his policies had shielded.
Don&#8217;t let them tell you that sanctuary city policies aren&#8217;t dangerous or destructive. Because again and again, we&#8217;re being reminded — they are.

People Protest in Chicago, IL as Part of the No Kings Rallies on October 18, 2025

Chicago’s Sanctuary Policies Allowed A Girl To Be Murdered In Cold Blood.

Chicago

illegal alien

Illinois

Sanctuary Cities

If you were told that in the year 2026, elected Democrats in Congress would get away with prolonging the longest partial shutdown in history — all to protect illegal aliens — would you believe it? You should, because it’s happening.
Forty days in, and Democrats are holding the entire Department of Homeland Security hostage over a tiny fraction, 8.5 percent, of the agency. Not the TSA. Not FEMA. Not the Coast Guard. Just ICE — and apparently, that’s worth burning the whole thing down. 
 
Following the Minnesota shootings, Democrats have entered another frenzy to abolish, this time targeting ICE officers instead of police. Because “abolish cops” and demonizing a whole group of people whose job is to protect us went so well the first time. They want masks off —despite forcing them on everyone and their grandmother during Covid. Identification shown — despite their open hostility to requiring ID at the ballot box. And operations paused, unless ICE can navigate numerous legal hurdles to get judicial warrants. 
 
All nonstarters for Republicans. So the shutdown drags on. 
 
Democrats are standing ten toes down on defunding ICE — and by extension, all of DHS — while Republicans and the American people plead with them to at least vote to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and Cyber Security Intelligence. One would think these are reasonable requests, given that we are at war with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. But common sense left the building a long time ago. 
 
The consequences are not abstract. Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the directors of FEMA, TSA, and CISA testified about the devastating impacts this shutdown is having on their institutions. TSA: &#8220;We are really concerned about our security.&#8221; Think about that — the people responsible for keeping bombs off planes are telling Congress they’re scared. CISA: “The threat environment is too dynamic to allow this shutdown to continue.” And FEMA: “We are crippling our disaster response.” Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill put a number to it: over 480 Transportation Security Officers already gone, with airports running at 40-50% staff capacity, because officers simply cannot afford to show up. 
Democrats did that. They own every single minute of it.
Luckily for Republicans, when political leverage fails, public animosity tends to move the needle. And right now, the public is not happy. TSA lines are seeing historic wait times, and Americans are on edge as terrorism threatens to run amok. And little girls are being <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/sheridan-gorman-loyola-killing-venezuelan-court">killed</a> on Chicago streets by the very people Democrats are going to the mat to defend. 
 
To make problems worse for the “party of love and tolerance,” and in direct contradiction to the Democrats&#8217; broken record narrative, Americans are now seeing ICE agents as they shuffle through these historically long airport lines, not arresting and kidnapping! people, but <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2036502819000160539">handing out water bottles and shaking hands</a> with the citizens they work to protect. 
 
The flame is burning at both ends for the Left: they’re defending illegal criminals at the expense of Americans, while ICE gets a PR boost for dissolving an airport bottleneck that Democrats created. ICE deployed to Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston has drastically improved security wait times — and more importantly, Americans are meeting these officers in the flesh, share a laugh, and realize that maybe they aren’t the Gestapo after all. 
 
While Democrats are busy mourning the fact that ICE is finally getting good press — press they manufactured —  Sheridan Gorman&#8217;s family in Chicago is planning her funeral, a tragedy Democrats manufactured. 
 
If the very agency Democrats have tried to dehumanize, defund, and destroy were simply allowed to do their job, a young girl would still be walking the earth. Last weekend, Sheridan Gorman was shot in the head and killed by an illegal alien who was protected from ICE and released from prison because of Democrat sanctuary policies. This horrific tragedy, and the adjacent horrors like it, never seem to be enough to get Democrats to budge. They will keep the entire Department of Homeland Security defunded despite American loss. 
 
What will bring them to the negotiating table, apparently, is a streak of good PR for ICE. They can’t have that going on. 
 
It’s a sad day when the killing of a teenage girl at the hands of an illegal alien can’t get Democrats to do their jobs — but footage of ICE agents smiling in an airport might.

Trump Sends ICE Agents To Airports As DHS Remains Unfunded

The Shutdown Is Democrats’ Gift To ICE

It&#8217;s time to ask some serious questions.
When you get to the airport next week, a record 171 million of us will get on a plane this spring. Will you be safe?
When you look at the southern border or when you read about Sheridan Gorman, 18 years old, shot in the head while going out for a walk with friends to see the Northern Lights, do you feel safe?
You may even be reading this in line at an airport right now, probably waiting for hours if you are. That is because Democrats decided to shut down funding for the Department of Homeland Security in order to punish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — which is a part of DHS — for enforcing the law.
It doesn&#8217;t matter that ICE&#8217;s legal authority has not changed for decades. 
It doesn&#8217;t matter that under President Trump, they&#8217;re simply doing their job for the first time in decades. DHS must be closed down because ICE is doing their job.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2394-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Democrats don&#8217;t want to enforce the border. If they get the chance, they&#8217;ll return to Biden-era open borders as soon as possible.
Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old student at Loyola University in Chicago, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murder-suspect-in-loyola-university-slaying-is-venezuelan-illegal-released-by-biden?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=67&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Murder+Suspect+In+Loyola+University+Slaying+Is+Venezuelan+Illegal+Released+By+Biden">murdered</a> by a masked man while she was walking in Rogers Park last Thursday.
According to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/suspect-due-court-shooting-loyola-chicago-freshman-sheridan-gorman/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">CBS News</a>:
<blockquote>The shooting happened early last Thursday as Gorman, 18, was walking with her friends near the pier at Tobey Prinz Beach at Pratt Boulevard to take in the Chicago skyline. Prosecutors said, as Gorman and her friends were walking toward the lighthouse at the end of the pier shortly after 1 a.m., Gorman told her friends she saw someone hiding behind the lighthouse. When Medina came out from behind the lighthouse, Gorman and her friends ran away, and Medina shot Gorman in the back. The bullet exited her neck.</blockquote>
The alleged murderer was a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally, according to the New York Times. Medina was released into the United States by the Biden administration in May 2023 after he had contact with Border Patrol agents. According to federal officials, Medina was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Chicago in June 2023, and then released. 
Gigantic shock.
You might ask yourself: If someone is arrested for shoplifting and they are an illegal immigrant, why are they still here?
The answer, of course, is that Chicago is a sanctuary city. That means that the city and state of Illinois, a Democratic state, prevent local officials from cooperating with federal law enforcement. That is why Medina was free to allegedly commit a cold-blooded murder.
If local law enforcement had notified ICE that they&#8217;d arrested an illegal immigrant and then held him until ICE arrived, Gorman would probably still be alive. Republicans up to and including President Trump have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-doesnt-hold-back-when-daily-wire-asks-about-loyola-murder-suspect-and-biden-era-link?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=44&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Doesn%E2%80%99t+Hold+Back+When+Daily+Wire+Asks+About+Loyola+Murder+Suspect+And+Biden-Era+Link">pointed out</a> that simple fact.
Senator Ted Cruz correctly <a href="https://x.com/SenTedCruz/status/2036194371318731131">pointed out</a>, “Gorman&#8217;s killer was an illegal alien who should never have been in our country. Joe Biden&#8217;s open border policies and Governor Pritzker&#8217;s refusal to accept President Trump&#8217;s help are the reasons why she is not with us today.”
Correct. 
President Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2036097183275975161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2036097183275975161%7Ctwgr%5Ec0874bea6be8bc9e9e71c1ae489ffb7959454bd9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-doesnt-hold-back-when-daily-wire-asks-about-loyola-murder-suspect-and-biden-era-link">said</a>, “It&#8217;s devastating. These people were let in by Biden. We&#8217;re getting them out. We&#8217;re getting them out fast. That&#8217;s why ICE is so important. They&#8217;re doing such a good job. This &#8230; this animal — I saw the whole thing last night, they gave me a briefing — came in through Joe Biden with his open door policy and his border czar Kamala, who never saw the border.”
Democrats, however, are still making excuses. A Chicago alderman named Maria Hadden actually speculated it might have been Gorman&#8217;s fault.
You see, when you get shot in the back of the head by an illegal immigrant who was hiding while you were out seeing the Northern Lights, it&#8217;s possible that it&#8217;s your fault for startling that illegal immigrant. It’s like walking into an endangered species arena at the zoo or something. It&#8217;s your fault if something bad happens to you.
She <a href="https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2036134913921937785">said</a>: “Then they go out on the pier, they walk around. So the kids were out doing normal, normal things people do in the neighborhood. And it sounds like this might have been a wrong place, wrong time, running into a person who had a gun. They might have startled this person at the end of the pier, unintentionally.”
Other Democrats, of course, are claiming that this is all happening because we incarcerate too many criminals.
This is the big Democratic move: It&#8217;s been true for decades. The idea is that criminality happens because too many criminals are in jail. It’s sort of like the argument that if you kill too many terrorists, you&#8217;re just creating new terrorists.
Which is weird because when you kill terrorists, then they&#8217;re dead. The same thing is true of people who are in jail: When they&#8217;re in jail, you know what they&#8217;re not doing?
They&#8217;re not on the streets shooting people.
And yet, this is the typical Democratic take. It is idiotic.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson <a href="https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1993419780108550293">said back in</a> November 2025, “We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence. We&#8217;ve already tried that, and we&#8217;ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence, the addiction on jails and incarceration in this country. We have moved past that. It is racist. It is immoral. It is unholy, and it is not the way to drive violence down.”
I beg to differ. I think it&#8217;s a great way to drive violence down. Keeping criminals in jail is a great way for them not to commit crimes against people on the streets, because they&#8217;re in jail.
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office issued this statement: “Our thoughts are with the family, friends and Loyola University community grieving the senseless murder of Sheridan Gorman. Violent crime has no place in our streets. We expect the alleged perpetrator to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The Trump administration needs to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.”
That&#8217;s crazy. Politicizing heinous tragedies instead of focusing on real solutions? It is not politicization to point to the specific policy that could have stopped this murder in the first place. In fact, it is playing politics to ignore that policy for political reasons.
But Democrats are addicted to playing politics on illegal immigration. They&#8217;ve decided that illegal immigrants are the finest among us and deserve our undying sympathy, and that we ought to defund the agency that houses ICE in order to facilitate illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, the partial DHS shutdown has had the effect not just of defunding ICE, but defunding the TSA — in the middle of a war. This initially led to gigantic lines around the country at airports. In response, the administration said that it will deploy ICE officers to man the TSA lines because ICE actually has some leftover funding from the last round of funding.
Now, even CNN is saying ICE is helping with wait times.
If safety is your number one issue, I don’t see how you can vote Democrat.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRANSPORTATION-AVIATION

Thanks, Democrats! Unsafe Airports, Unsafe Streets

Airports

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

J.B. Pritzker

Murder

One In Ten Airport Screeners Skip Work As Funding Fight Drags On

The Real Reason Your Airport Is Now A Disaster Zone

Airlines

illegal immigrants

Matt Walsh

In what proved to be the kind of small divine intervention that gives one comfort the man upstairs is, indeed, looking out for them, I groggily awoke around 8:00 a.m. Sunday despite setting my alarm for 10:00 just a few hours before.
Southwest Airlines flight 1553 was scheduled to depart from New Orleans to D.C. at 12:35 p.m. This was the fourth time I was flying in six days, and I hadn&#8217;t had any TSA troubles yet. I planned to get to the airport a little earlier than usual, but nothing too crazy.
Before going back to sleep, I checked the bachelor party group chat, and everything changed. Our forward scout Will, who had booked a 5:50 a.m. flight home like an absolute psychopath, sent us photos from the TSA line around 4:00 a.m. Miles long. I quickly opened the Everything App (X) and searched &#8220;MSY&#8221;. Horror stories were quickly flooding in. I realized I had overlooked a key factor: spring break travelers.
Having been out on Bourbon Street until roughly 3:30 a.m. with the groom-to-be, my wits weren&#8217;t fully about me. I busted open the two tactical Excedrin Extra Strength packets I had stowed in my backpack for this very moment, swigged down the last bit of bottled drinking water I had, freshened up in the bathroom, and called my Uber.
I hurried downstairs and spotted one of my compatriots passed out face down on a couch. His flight was at noon. It was approaching 0845 CDT. It was over for him, so I left him behind — it&#8217;s what he would&#8217;ve wanted.
My Uber arrived and the real challenges began to stack up. My driver, pronouns stated in his Uber bio, was not aware there was a government shutdown affecting airport activity until I mentioned it.
&#8220;Are you f*cking sh*tting me? Again?&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/Dylan_Housman/status/2035717566815977677">he screamed</a>, immediately growing belligerent just moments after jovially asking me if we had gone to any &#8220;t*tty bars&#8221; (we did not).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In Uber to the airport. I broke the news to my driver that there is a DHS shutdown. He immediately started yelling about Trump, &#8220;we gotta yank this guy out of office man, he&#8217;s fucking up our country!&#8221;
The best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter
— Dylan Housman (@Dylan_Housman) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dylan_Housman/status/2035717566815977677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I explained to him it was just for DHS, which of course included TSA. &#8220;We gotta get this guy outta here man, he&#8217;s f*cking up our country!&#8221; he bellowed about President Trump. I didn&#8217;t have it in me to correct him. His blue delusion wouldn&#8217;t go far in deep red Louisiana anyway, and I was fighting for my life in the back seat of his Subaru.
We arrived at the airport. Southwest flight 1553 departed in three hours and 35 minutes. I entered the front door of the terminal and spotted the proverbial huddled masses, snaking in line after line around the floor. I glanced up to the second level, where the lines continued. I asked an employee where the line began, and she pointed me to the parking garage.
<div id="attachment_1064507" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064507" class="wp-image-1064507 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-432x576.jpg" alt="" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016262-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />Lines in the parking garage for TSA at the New Orleans airport. (Dylan Housman)</div>
I walked out to the garage and assumed my spot in the labyrinth. It snaked around floor P1 at least 4 times before making its way inside. I had received a heads-up about the garage situation from the groom, David, who had arrived a couple of hours prior for his 10:00 a.m. flight. He said he was still outside.
Despair and chaos have fully gripped the crowd. &#8220;My flight is boarding now,&#8221; I heard one man say to an airport employee nearby. &#8220;He&#8217;s a goner,&#8221; I turned around and said to the two men behind me. It turned out they would be in due course as well.
&#8220;Ground exfil is proceeding well,&#8221; read a text in the group chat from Hayden, who was making the eight-hour drive back to Nashville. Lucky bastard. There was no sign of the copious amounts of Ole Miss fraternity brothers and their dates we had met the night before, either. A six-hour drive back to Oxford sounded nice right about now.
One hour into the snake. Southwest flight 1553 departed in two hours and 10 minutes. I assume at this point I am thoroughly cooked and begin looking at alternative flight options.
Direct to DCA, Baltimore, or Dulles? Nothing.
One-stop connections? Nothing.
Flights from Baton Rouge, Mobile, or Lafayette? Nothing.
The reality of potentially spending my Sunday night at the New Orleans airport Hilton begins to set in.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve just got to make it through to the gates,&#8221; I say to myself. &#8220;So many people are gonna be missing flights, I&#8217;ll be able to get on something else on standby.&#8221;
Then David throws me yet another curveball. &#8220;They&#8217;re not letting anyone in who has missed their flight already,&#8221; he texted me. &#8220;I had to book a standby seat on a full flight just for TSA to let me through.&#8221;
There were no other flights for me to book, not even for standby. I hurriedly searched for the cheapest flight departing MSY that day in the evening, just so I would have a boarding pass to show the TSA legionnaire manning the scanner. $130 for a Frontier flight to LAX at 7:00 p.m., connecting via Midway, it was.
<div id="attachment_1064513" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064513" class="wp-image-1064513 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-432x576.jpg" alt="" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-432x576.jpg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1000016265-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />(Dylan Housman)</div>
Southwest flight 1553 departed in one hour and 20 minutes. I&#8217;ve reached the threshold of the airport terminal. A crying child snakes past me in the other direction with her family. Defeated passengers, left for dead, sit on the floor of the Hudson News shop inside. We get to the bottom of the escalator to head up to the *actual* TSA line, where I&#8217;m promptly cut off by a dreadlocked man with three small children. I decide not to call the police, for the sake of the children.
I can see the scanners. Maybe I actually will make it. The line is moving quickly.
&#8220;I need to see your boarding pass,&#8221; the TSA agent says. I show him. Southwest flight 1553, which is leaving in 40 minutes. I&#8217;m through. Bags in the bin. Water bottle poured out. Portable charger through the machine. On the other side, I emerge as my flight begins boarding.
I make it onto the flight as one of the last to board. Total time spent in the TSA line ended up at about two hours and 45 minutes. I spent the taxi time writing a letter to my senators, pleading for mercy to never experience this hell again.

1000016268

Drugs, Sweat, And Tears: My Fight Through Spring Break TSA Lines During The Democrat DHS Shutdown

Air Travel

New Orleans

Transportation

Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON—A large portion of the Department of Homeland Security staff who investigate terrorism are not being paid due to the ongoing, partial government shutdown, The Daily Wire can first report.
Eighty percent of the Office of Intelligence &amp; Analysis is working without pay while they defend the United States on the home front, a Homeland Security spokesman told The Daily Wire. That department is the primary office tracking terrorism and threats, and specializes in sharing intelligence and analysis to &#8220;identify and mitigate threats to the homeland.&#8221;
“Democrats are shamelessly playing politics with national security,&#8221; the spokesman said.
President Trump on Monday responded to The Daily Wire&#8217;s reporting, saying, &#8220;The Democrats aren&#8217;t paying. &#8230; The Democrats are terrible. It&#8217;d be nice to get along, but for years, this has been going on. Not just with me. &#8230; We&#8217;re fighting big battles with a very tough enemy, and winning nicely — and we&#8217;re not allowed to have security in our country. &#8230; These are not people that love our country.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> gets President Trump&#8217;s reaction to exclusive Daily Wire reporting that revealed 80% of DHS terrorism investigators are working without pay:
&#8220;The Democrats are terrible&#8230;We&#8217;re fighting big battles with a very tough enemy&#8230;and we&#8217;re not allowed to have security… <a href="https://t.co/xMjJDIAoal">pic.twitter.com/xMjJDIAoal</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2033652801608245319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Homeland Security&#8217;s terrorism prevention arm has taken on increased importance in recent weeks: there have been at least four attacks on Americans since the conflict in Iran began. Given the gravity of the threats to the United States at this time, the spokesman said, it is imperative that the agency be funded.
“DHS shares timely and actionable intelligence from the intelligence community to state and local governments to ensure they are aware of any emerging threats to keep their communities safe,&#8221; a spokesman explained. &#8220;With major events such as America 250 and the World Cup coming up, along with the numerous threats our nation must be prepared for, DHS needs to be fully funded as soon as possible to ensure the safety and security of the homeland.&#8221; 
The department has not been funded since February 14, about a month now, and the White House has slammed Democrats for shutting down the agency during a crucial time. TSA workers have gone without paychecks for weeks, causing staffing shortages and incredibly long security lines at airports across the nation. The shutdown also means that FEMA, the Coast Guard, and thousands of federal law enforcement officers are not being paid or given the resources they need, the White House says.
“The president has been clear — he wants the government to be open so it can best serve the American people,&#8221; White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. &#8220;Regardless of the Democrats’ decision to play partisan games with homeland security funding, the Trump administration will not waver in our commitment to protect the American people.”
Last week, a gunman rammed his vehicle into Temple Israel in Michigan, the largest Reform Jewish congregation in the country, before opening fire. That gunman was 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who entered the United States in 2011 on a visa for foreign-born spouses of citizens of the United States and then gained citizenship in 2016. Thankfully, no one was killed in this attack, except the shooter himself.
<div id="attachment_1060585" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-homeland-security-terrorism-investigators-are-going-without-pay/suspect-dead-in-apparent-attack-on-temple-israel-synagogue-in-west-bloomfield-michigan-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1060585"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1060585" class="wp-image-1060585 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2265589233.jpg" alt="WEST BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN - MARCH 12: Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. According to authorities a suspect is dead after ramming a vehicle into the Detroit-area synagogue. Police continue to investigate as emergency personnel remained on the scene. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2265589233.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2265589233-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2265589233-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2265589233-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)</div>
That attack closely followed a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where a gunman identified by authorities as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh opened fire inside a university building, wounding two people and killing another. Jalloh, who was killed at the scene, is a former National Guard soldier who was previously convicted of supporting ISIS.
In New York City earlier this month, two men attempted to detonate explosive devices near Mayor Zohran Mamdani&#8217;s home, Gracie Mansion, during a protest in the area. The Justice Department charged both men with knowingly attempting to provide “material support or resources” to ISIS, calling them “alleged ISIS-inspired terrorists.&#8221; The suspects have admitted they were inspired by ISIS, according to the DOJ.
And on March 1, just as the conflict with Iran began, a shooter wearing a “Property of Allah” hoodie and a pro-Iran shirt opened fire on an Austin, Texas bar, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others.
The Department of Homeland Security tells The Daily Wire that on the Saturday following the first strikes in Iran, its Office of Intelligence &amp; Analysis and the National Fusion Center Association co-hosted a call for over 1,450 state and local law enforcement officials, &#8220;providing threat updates and encouraging suspicious activity reporting.&#8221;
Experts who spoke with The Daily Wire&#8217;s Cameron Arcand warn of serious risks associated with the continued shutdown.
“We’re dealing with a heightened threat environment right now, and we need the federal government security capabilities to be firing on all cylinders,” said Nathan Sales, former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS.
Sales warns that now is not the time to be &#8220;playing politics with national security, adding: “If you’re a Hezbollah operative and you want to carry out an attack in the United States, you have to cross the border, and that’s a DHS responsibility.&#8221;

Right-Wing Activists Protest Against New York Mayor Mamdani Outside Gracie Mansion

EXCLUSIVE: Homeland Security Terrorism Investigators Are Going Without Pay

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