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Thune’s SD SIte
The Leader Board • Remarks
February 25th, 2026

Americans Feel the Impacts of Democrats Defunding Law Enforcement and Disaster Relief

BY SHUTTING DOWN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DEMOCRATS ARE MAKING AMERICA LESS SAFE

  • Last night, Democrats once again voted against funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands of DHS employees and the federal government’s ability to respond to natural disasters and national security crises. (H.R. 7174: Roll Call Vote #39 – 2/24/26)
  • Because of Democrats’ shutdown, FEMA has “paused disaster-response travel nationwide, … leaving hundreds of FEMA personnel awaiting deployment even as severe weather unfolds.” (Washington Examiner: Winter storms collide with shutdown fight, putting pressure on FEMA – 2/24/26)
    • “Beginning Feb. 22, FEMA halted non-essential activities, paused most non-emergency recovery work, and limited travel and deployments to active disasters where there is an immediate threat to life, public health, or safety. Funding for ongoing recovery projects, long-term planning, and new initiatives has largely been put on hold until monetary support is restored.” (Washington Examiner: Winter storms collide with shutdown fight, putting pressure on FEMA – 2/24/26)
  • Ahead of the World Cup and several other heightened-security events this year, operations are constrained and some of the country’s most important emergency training centers are closed:
    • At a hearing on Tuesday, “Local officials told the House Homeland Security Committee… that the ongoing partial government shutdown may make it significantly harder to coordinate security for the World Cup.” (PoliticoPro: Local officials warn DHS shutdown could harm World Cup preparations – 2/24/26)
    • The Center for Disaster Preparedness in Alabama, which “provides advanced, all-hazards training to approximately 60,000 emergency responders annually from state, local, tribal, and territorial governments,” has canceled training “for the week of February 22-28.” (Center for Domestic Preparedness: About – accessed 2/25/26; U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Center for Domestic Preparedness – accessed 2/25/26)
    • “All resident classes at the National Fire Academy (NFA) at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland will be cancelled until the shutdown is resolved,” affecting “specialized training courses and advanced management programs for middle- and top-level fire officers, fire service instructors, technical professionals, and representatives from allied professions.” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Another Democrat Government Shutdown Dramatically Hurts America’s National Security – 2/17/26; U.S. Fire Administration: About the National Fire Academy – accessed 2/25/26)
  • Additionally, FEMA’s ability to keep “the government running during a national emergency… is ‘significantly constrained’ amid the partial government shutdown.”
    • “The agency’s Office of National Continuity Programs plays a key national security role, since it is in charge of keeping the executive branch running during a catastrophe. It ensures that the president and top officials at different agencies can stay in contact with one another during massive disasters, nuclear threats and terrorist attacks, and it also runs the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS). That system buzzes radios, broadcast TV stations and phones with alerts about missing children, accidents, floods and fires.”
    • “Now, some staffers have been furloughed; trainings and exercises on the warning systems have been suspended, along with meetings with wireless carriers and broadcasters…” (The Washington Post: FEMA national security functions ‘significantly constrained’ during shutdown, email warns – 2/23/26)

DEMOCRATS’ SHUTDOWN IS ALSO AFFECTING CYBERSECURITY READINESS, NATIONWIDE TRAVEL, AND THE LIVELIHOODS OF THOUSANDS OF COAST GUARD AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY EMPLOYEES

  • “Roughly 120,000 Department of Homeland Security employees are working without pay as Democrats and the White House remain at odds over funding the department — and the bulk of those missing checks do not work in immigration enforcement, according to internal numbers compiled by the Trump administration and shared with Semafor.” (Semafor: Exclusive / Shutdown hits homeland security agencies outside immigration enforcement – 2/25/26)
  • The shutdown is affecting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers and air travel:
    • “Those working without pay include around 42,000 TSA screening officers and roughly 19,000 other employees from that government agency, according to the compiled numbers.” (Semafor: Exclusive / Shutdown hits homeland security agencies outside immigration enforcement – 2/25/26)
    • “The longer the shutdown lasts, the more severe the impact will be on the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) and other front-line workers who will have to keep coming to work.”
    • “This could lead to increased wait times at airports across the country.” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Another Democrat Government Shutdown Dramatically Hurts America’s National Security – 2/17/26)
  • On top of undermining the TSA, Democrats’ shutdown is preventing Americans who paid for Global Entry from using this benefit upon returning to the country. (USA Today: TSA PreCheck won’t shut down after all, Global Entry remains suspended – 2/23/26)
  • “Employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency [CISA], Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Coast Guard civilians are also being hit hard.” (Semafor: Exclusive / Shutdown hits homeland security agencies outside immigration enforcement – 2/25/26)
    • “As the latest DHS shutdown takes effect, CISA will cancel or trim down key programs across several of its divisions, according to a fact sheet released by the agency last week.”
    • “[T]his shutdown marks the second time CISA operations have come to a grinding halt under Trump 2.0, following an extended shutdown last fall that resulted in around two-thirds of its 2,500 employees being furloughed.”
    • “According to the agency’s fact sheet, CISA will be forced to cancel several of its duties, including physical assessments of critical infrastructure networks; simulation exercises; stakeholder trainings and development meetings; international engagements; and public speeches by agency officials. CISA acknowledged that pulling back from these responsibilities could have a detrimental impact on national security, writing that as the lapse in funding stretches on, ‘CISA’s lack of involvement in these key areas will lead to a future threat or an increased area of weakness.’” (Politico: States feel the squeeze of CISA shutdown – 2/23/26)
  • The Democrats’ shutdown also negatively affects Coast Guard personnel and operations:
    • “Military families may start to face problems with housing and utilities, as vendors who don’t receive payments for utilities, leases, and base contracts could reduce or stop their support altogether. This could lead to military families losing electricity and water, and a possible lack of housing for members of the military.”
    • “This shutdown will result in increased requests from excepted employees to be furloughed due to a lack of workplace flexibilities – including alternative work schedules and telework. This shutdown will hinder supervisors’ abilities to manage fatigue among the workforce, which makes it harder to sustain mission readiness.”
    • “During a shutdown, civilian personnel are unable to process retirement packages or conduct retirement counseling. This means that employees nearing retirement do not know if they are fully eligible to retire or understand their annuity fully.”
    • Commercial shipping is also at risk because of Democrats’ shutdown: “The Coast Guard may have to stop issuing credentials and documentation for merchant mariners and commercial vessels. In the long term, this can impact U.S. maritime shipping, which hurts all Americans at the grocery store and the gas station.” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Another Democrat Government Shutdown Dramatically Hurts America’s National Security – 2/17/26)

UNDETERRED, DEMOCRATS HAVE YET TO OFFER SERIOUS COUNTERPROPOSALS AND ARE SEEMINGLY CONTENT TO KEEP THE SHUTDOWN GOING

“[Democrats] have created this environment by their rhetoric and their failed policies. What they’re really holding out for is hoping that we’ll cement the failed Biden border policies of the past, and it’s not going to happen.” – Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.)

  • Despite a good-faith offer from the White House to keep DHS funded with significant reforms, Senate Democrats flatly rejected it, opting to shut down the entire department instead. (Punchbowl News: AM: Dems review W.H. offer with shutdown looming – 2/12/26 ; The Hill’s Alex Bolton: post on X – 2/12/26)
  • Democrats’ proposals thus far have been entirely unreasonable:
    • “[W]e’re not going to support anything that makes it impossible for law enforcement to carry out its job. We’re not going to support anything that makes it more dangerous for officers to do their jobs. Unfortunately, that’s what some of the Democrats’ proposals would do. Mr. President, old habits die hard. And unfortunately, the party of ‘defund the police’ seems to be slipping back into calls to defund law enforcement.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Some Democrats seem content to keep their shutdown going as long as they’re able to make partisan political points with it:
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