Barrasso: Senate Dems have 'blood on their hands' for DHS shutdown

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(The Center Square) – With the ongoing partial government shutdown now the second-longest in American history, irritated Republicans are berating Senate Democrats, who for the fifth time Friday blocked the advance of the Department of Homeland Security funding bill.

The failed vote highlighted how firmly Democrats are entrenched in their opposition to any fiscal year 2026 Homeland Security bill that doesn’t include an extensive list of new restrictions on immigration enforcement operations.

With no federal funding, DHS agencies – including TSA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – have ceased nonessential operations and faced worker shortages, even as homeland security risks have heightened. 

Since the U.S.-Israeli-Iran conflict began in February, multiple attempted and successful Islamic terrorist attacks have occurred on U.S. soil in the states of Michigan, Virginia, New York, and other places.

In a social media post Friday, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., blamed the increased violent incidents on Democrats’ refusal to reopen DHS.

“Americans need and deserve safety and security,” Barrasso wrote. “Democrats are preventing it and they have blood on their hands.”

This is the second time in less than six months that Democrats have forced a shutdown over policy demands, with the most recent lasting a record-long 43 days.

As with the previous shutdown, DHS workers deemed “essential” have been forced to work without pay, leading to hours-long waits at airports across the country as workers call in sick or leave for other paying jobs. 

“It is incredibly frustrating that for 35 days, Democrats have blocked DHS funding. There is a name and a family tied to every single one of these paychecks,” Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.V., said Friday on X. “Yet again, they are forced to go without so the political theater can continue. It’s time to put an end to this.”

Senate Democrats have offered to fund all DHS agencies except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, but Republicans have refused to dissect the House-passed bill.

“We can fund the TSA. We can fund FEMA. We can fund CISA. We can fund the Coast Guard. Then we can talk through our differences on reining in the tactics of ICE and CBP to better protect Americans,” Sen Angus King, I-Maine., who caucuses with Democrats, said on X Friday.

As of Friday, the DHS shutdown has cost the U.S. economy $2.5 billion, according to the Council of Economic Advisors.