Believe it or not, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has remained shut down for 73 days, and Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) has renewed calls to fully fund it in a recent discussion with KVOI's Kathleen Winn.
Rep. Ciscomani shared a clip from the interview on social media, writing, "It's unacceptable that efforts to fully fund DHS are being blocked over political games tied to less than 10% of its funding. After the tragic incident at the WHCD, this should be a wake-up call to every Senator: fully fund @DHSgov."
During the interview, Rep. Ciscomani said that while there are Democrats in the House who were willing to vote for DHS funding, the Senate refuses to budge, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently calling Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "rogue agencies" that "nobody respects," a comment that earned fierce criticism from Republicans and members of those agencies alike.
The Arizona congressman called Sen. Schumer's comment "unreal," adding, "even if you have disagreements with Border Patrol and ICE, that is 10% of the entire DHS bill." "You are talking about FEMA, the Secret Service, TSA, cybersecurity," he continued.
"The list goes on."
Ciscomani ripped Senate Democrats for refusing to fund DHS, even though the two agencies constitute a tenth of the DHS budget, leaving the other 90% unfunded.
Ciscomani is not the only Arizona Republican fed up with the DHS shutdown.
In March, Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ) accused Democrats of orchestrating a "massive gaslighting campaign" of blaming Republicans for the shutdown in a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
"A lot of the American people seem to be falling for this massive gaslighting campaign that this is a Republican shutdown," Rep. Crane commented during the hearing. "And this is what happens in Washington," Rep. Crane continued. "It is not really about truth or facts, it is about narrative, and who can get their narrative out."
