Former acting DHS secretary blasts Democrats’ shutdown threat over DHS funding
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Former Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf criticized Senate Democrats’ move to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), saying it was a step that could trigger a government shutdown following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
“Democrats want to shut down the government … because ICE is doing the job Congress told them to do,” Wolf said Saturday on “The Big Weekend Show,” calling the party’s reasoning “bizarre.”
“Instead of saying, ‘Hey, let’s pass a bunch of reforms to ICE or let’s try to get this through the Senate. I don’t think he’s going to get it done. Instead of saying, ‘Let’s try and do all this,’ all they can say is, ‘We’re going to shut down the government.'”
SENATE Touts $174 Billion Package AS MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTS WIN DHS FUNDING BATTLE
Chad Wolf (left), former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on July 9, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DY, right, speaks to the media during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on December 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Democrats in the upper chamber, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-M), plan to vote against legislation that would fund DHS after the deadly Minneapolis attack shattered a fragile ceasefire on the issue.
Schumer argued that the current bill, which was negotiated with bipartisan input, was “woefully inadequate” to rein in alleged abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and promised that Democrats would block its passage as long as DHS funding was included; This significantly increases the risk of a partial government shutdown as the January 30 funding deadline approaches.
HOUSE JACK SENATE ADDS REPEAL OF JACK SMITH PROVISION TO $1.2 BILLION FUNDING PACKAGE
The Department of Homeland Security seal is seen at a podium used by then-Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan as he announced new rules for how immigrant children and families will be treated in federal custody at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., on August 21, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Wolf said a partial shutdown, which simply means that agencies Congress has not yet funded would have to reduce or cease functions, would likely make ICE and Border Patrol agents “less safe” but would “not deter them from doing their jobs.”
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“They have resources in the Department, obviously there is a Big, Good Bill that has been passed. [and] has provided significant resources to both the Border Patrol and ICE. Most likely, they will be on an ongoing solution. “If the government shuts down, most of them will be exempt so they can continue to ensure national security and get criminals off the streets.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ON MEDIA AND CULTURE
Fox News’ Alex Miller and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
