Homeland Security funding crisis deepens amid ongoing political standoff

“I can’t believe they’re gone!”

“Why didn’t they stay there until they fixed the problem?”

“Why didn’t they make them stay?”

I must have received forty questions from colleagues, friends and acquaintances in the last week. Even reporters and editorial staff from other news organizations. And that’s just a few Congressional aides.

Everyone had the same question in mind. They did not believe that lawmakers left the Capitol a week ago on Thursday and left without funding from the Department of Homeland Security at 12:00:01 a.m. Saturday.

COAST GUARD WAS CAUGHT AS ‘ALLEGED DAMAGE’ WHEN DEMOCRATS CLOSED DHS AS CHINA AND RUSSIA INVOLVED US WATERS

The Senate made two attempts Thursday to prevent a partial government shutdown. The Senate failed to break the filibuster on a placeholder and unspecified funding bill. And then Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., objected to a request from Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to approve a two-week stopgap funding bill. The bill requires the approval of all 100 senators to pass. But all it took was one objection. And Murphy, speaking on behalf of many Democrats on both sides of the Capitol, intervened to deflect Britt’s efforts.

“I’m over this!” an exasperated Britt shouted on the Senate floor as Congress forced at least part of the federal government to shut down for the third time since Oct. 1.

Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security until a specific agreement is reached to reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And — few Democrats will say this out loud — but their base insists Democrats shut down DHS over ICE tactics following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

This is a bit ironic. Republicans funded ICE through 2029 through last year’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill. So, thanks to the Democrats, the TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA (all under the auspices of DHS) are now broke. This means tens of thousands of employees are technically working without a paycheck, screening passengers at airports, patrolling the seas, and responding to natural disasters.

This brings us back to the basic question: Why didn’t they stay there until they figured this out?

As a reporter, I covered dozens of closures, partial closures, almost closures, and flirtations with closure. This says nothing of the various permutations of long and short interim spending bills known as Standing Orders, or CRs. These bills ensure that the funding flow remains at the old spending level until all lawmakers agree on something new. Sometimes one CR begets another CR. And even one more from now until everything is resolved. Exercise can last for months.

HOW DID ICE COME FROM AN COUNTER-TERRORISM AGENCY TO THE CENTER OF THE MIGRATION STRUGGLE after 9/11?

Sen. Katie Britt expressed disappointment in the Senate after the interim bill was blocked. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But since the issue is about DHS, lawmakers wouldn’t immediately address the issues surrounding ICE. So both the House of Representatives and the Senate withdrew from Dodge last Thursday as the deadline approached. Lawmakers were everywhere from the Middle East to Munich when the bell rang at midnight Saturday and DHS slowly entered a funding collapse.

Whatever you think of ICE, the lack of funding for the Department of Homeland Security may seem unreasonable from a policy standpoint. But if you understand the policy and Congressional procedure for funding ICE, this is not unreasonable.

Let’s say they were on the verge of a deal to fund DHS. This could involve some last-minute paper exchanges between Senate and House leaders. Maybe the President might have a call or two to reluctant Republicans. If lawmakers believed a deal was within range, it’s doubtful leaders would be able to release members. If there had been an appropriate way to clarify something last Friday, they would have had the Senate expedite the process and vote on Saturday or Sunday (albeit after the deadline) and then have the House vote on Monday. This is all under the assumption that a deal is imminent.

They were nowhere near that stage yet when lawmakers called for it last Thursday. Democrats did not submit their proposals for days after a brief shutdown of 78 percent of the government more than two weeks ago. Democrats later criticized Republicans and the White House for slowly making a counteroffer. Democrats later rejected the GOP plan and sent back another plan late Monday.

It takes time to reach an agreement that can pass both the House and the Senate and overcome the filibuster in the Senate. And there was no deal to be made yet.

This is where things get really interesting. With no deal in sight, you don’t leave lawmakers anchored in Washington with nothing to do. There is nothing to vote for. There are no committee meetings scheduled. Connecting lawmakers to DC is nothing but trouble.

There’s a line in the song “Trouble” from Meredith Willson’s The Music Man: “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.” Who knows what kind of mischief you would get up to, causing disgruntled lawmakers to wander around Washington for days with nothing to vote for. Keeping everyone here will not help achieve agreement. Yes, all 532 House and Senate Members (there are two vacancies in the House) need to be called to vote on a bill that would eventually fund DHS. But we’re not there yet. It will be the House of Representatives, the Senate and a handful of members of the White House who will negotiate the deal. Rank-and-file members are stuck in Washington with nothing to do except post outrageous things on social media and appear on cable TV, which is counterproductive.

Now let’s look at the other scenario of being close to a deal. House and Senate leaders may believe the vote count is still a bit short. But if something can be implemented, leaders know they can lock in the votes with a little arm-twisting, legislative and ego-massaging, and a few strong phone calls. Yes, this process may require elbow grease. But in this case, keeping everyone in Washington for a few more days and blowing the long-awaited Congressional recess actually helps the process.

DHS CLOSURE LEAVES LOCAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL ALONE IN EXTREME WEATHER, EXPERT WARNS

TSA officers, Coast Guard members and FEMA personnel are working without pay as DHS funding runs out. (Photo: Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

From where?

Think Stockholm Syndrome. You request that everyone stay in Washington for another day or two, and the “hostages” begin to understand their captors’ points of view. Yes, everyone is frustrated and angry. But they think the bill is something they can support and could finally put an end to this trio of government shutdowns. In this case fustigation increases – but only slightly. Everyone is happy to vote yes and escape Capitol Hill.

If they were close to reaching an agreement on DHS funding, Congressional leaders would use some version of Stockholm Syndrome to wrap things up.

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But without a deal, leaders became more afraid of the chaos they could create by keeping everyone in Washington. The devil would roam free in the playground of empty minds.

So how do you know there’s a deal?

When everyone is ready and accounted for.