Since the U.S. and Israel launched the latest offensive against Iran almost two weeks ago, there have already been four Islamist terror attacks on U.S. soil in Texas, New York, Virginia and Michigan. And yet, Democrats in Congress still refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Even without the war including last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer that targeted Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities, after the October 7 terror attacks in Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there has been an ongoing heightened terror threat, with anti-Semitic and anti-U.S. forces attacks on the rise, that DHS needs to be functional in order to fulfill its statutory counterterrorism mission.
Democrats are blackmailing the American people who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 to secure the border and restore deterrence to illegal immigration by deporting illegal aliens, including by boosting resources to ICE and the Border Patrol by about $140 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Southwest border encounters are now down to almost zero, and by targeting recidivist criminals including illegal alien criminals, violent crime is hitting all-time lows. The policies are working, and to subvert them, Democrats are holding Homeland Security funding hostage.
The strategy appears to be to peel out ICE and the Border Patrol and use the shutdown to drain the additional funds from those agencies.
Forcing the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and other DHS employees to work without pay will not change the outcome of the 2024 election or change the policies that President Trump was elected to implement. But it might demoralize those entrusted with protecting the homeland at the worst possible time.
This is being done because Democrats are paying no political price for it. They think the 2026 Congressional midterms are in the bag — Democrats lead the generic Congressional ballot polls on average by about 4.7 points — and so are behaving arrogantly.
This is what happens when you put politics ahead of the safety and security of the American people. Shame. We’ve already had four terrorist attacks during this shutdown. Yes, these appear to be lone wolf attacks responding to the war in Iran, but again, it’s a heightened threat environment. We don’t have time to muck around.
President Trump is not opening up the border and he’s not stopping deportations which create deterrence for would-be illegal aliens, including terror cells. What Democrats are asking for doesn’t even make sense.
Even if Democrats win the House and Senate in 2026, they will almost certainly not have veto-proof margins, and still will be unable to defund these agencies, which the President would just veto. Right now, Democrats don’t even have majorities in either chamber, so they don’t get to write the funding bill.
Again, Democrats aren’t paying a price, and so this could go on, but in so doing, Democrats are tempting fate. By waiting for negative feedback from the shutdown via public opinion, the longer the shutdown goes on, and the more attacks that occur, they are cynically betting President Trump and Republicans will be blamed. The problem with gambling all-in is eventually you’ll lose the bet.
After 2026, the political pendulum will swing the other way, and the question will be, especially if the war wears on, why Democrats with their newfound majorities are paralyzing the ability of the federal government to fight a resilient enemy and endangering the American people. It’s a dangerous game, and when America is attacked, public opinion has proven it can swing rapidly.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
