DHS Budget is rejected by US Senate!
The Department of Homeland Security will remain partially open!
Washington, Mar 20 (EFE). –
The United States Senate on Friday rejected a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, maintaining the agency’s partial shutdown, which began on Feb 14 and is causing significant delays at airports across the country.
Friday’s vote, the fifth since the shutdown began, failed to reach the 60 votes needed for approval, resulting in 47 votes in favor and 37 against; 16 senators abstained.
The Department closed because Democrats would not approve the budget unless key aspects of the Trump Administration’s immigration policy changed.
The deaths of two US citizens shot by federal agents during protests against mass immigration raids in Minneapolis prompted Democrats to demand changes to the operations used to detain migrants.
They are demanding, among other things, that agents not wear masks and that warrants be required to search private property.
Although the nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, has softened his stance on immigration policy during his Senate confirmation hearings, negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to reopen the Department remain deadlocked.
In fact, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer asserted on Friday that negotiations on immigration enforcement “still have a way to go” due to “very deep disagreements.”
As the Department enters its 35th day of partial closure, the effects are increasingly evident at some US airports because many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have stopped showing up for work or have resigned due to the loss of pay.
This situation has led to extremely long lines at security checkpoints in major US airports such as Atlanta, New York’s JFK, and New Orleans.
The Senate is expected to vote on Saturday on funding only the TSA, an option that, if approved, would partially shut down the rest of the Department of Homeland Security’s operations.
”We both see the chaos at TSA. We both know and would admit there is a lot more work to do on ICE. There is no good reason to keep holding TSA hostage. There is no good reason to reject our proposal to fund it,” said Schumer. EFE
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