John Fetterman Bluntly Tells Democrats What Their DHS Shutdown Is Doing To Americans

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman criticized his own party Friday, saying that Democratic leadership puts political games ahead of federal workers’ livelihoods.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that the shutdown has forced numerous agencies—including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—to operate under “emergency protocols.” Appearing on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Fetterman said he was the only Democrat to resist shutting down the government, warning that the ongoing closure punishes employees while doing nothing to advance policy goals.

“I was the only Democrat through this entire thing to refuse to shut our government down. This is wrong. Now you can want to reform ICE. That’s reasonable, now, but it has no impact on that directly,” Fetterman told Greta Van Susteren, before mentioning long lines at airports nationwide.

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“Now, look what happened in Michigan. You had an individual with a connection with Hezbollah. He came driving into the synagogue in Michigan, looking to kill 150 toddlers there. So with all the kinds of security, not just TSA, all of DHS is shut down at that. So that’s also our cybersecurity agency, that’s another part of it,” Fetterman said.

Earlier this month, a man drove a truck carrying explosives into a synagogue in Michigan, breaking through its entrance. Israeli officials later reported that the assailant’s brother once held a leadership position in the extremist group Hezbollah. (RELATED: TSA Calls To End Now 25 Day ‘Democrat Shutdown’ With Airport Lines Out The Door, Terror Threats Abounding)

Fetterman criticized Democrats for prioritizing political goals over public safety.

“For me, the Democrats are afraid of their base to just tell them, ‘Hey, we’re gonna do the right thing. We’re gonna reopen this.’ I will work for the new Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin. That’s why I voted for him. We agree on many, many things about our Homeland Security,” Fetterman added. “So I know I’ve been taking some heat from voting for him, but again, he’s a good guy and he’s someone that I can work with. And now why? Let’s just reopen DHS, pay everybody, stop all these lines and make our nation more secure.”

The Senate failed Friday to end the partial government shutdown as Democrats, for the second time in under a year, withheld votes over a policy dispute. With attendance low, the chamber fell short of the 60 votes needed in a 47-37 tally on the 35th day of the DHS shutdown, leaving TSA workers unpaid during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote to reopen the government. The rest of his party remains united blocking full funding for DHS until their proposed sweeping changes to ICE and CBP are approved.

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