Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) gave Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a verbal middle finger on live television during a CNN interview on Wednesday, blaming the New York Democrat for the ongoing airport chaos gripping the nation.
"I join in giving the, you know, one finger salute to Chuck Schumer right now," Lawler told CNN anchor Kasie Hunt, barely pausing before the host moved on.
Lawler, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, insisted that Schumer is "solely responsible for the DHS shutdown for the second time in less than six months," accusing Democrats of repeatedly moving the goalposts on funding negotiations while House Republicans had passed multiple bills to fund the Department of Homeland Security, TSA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and FEMA.
"It is outrageous that Democrats have allowed this to go on for over 40 days," Lawler said, accusing his progressive colleagues of being beholden to their base.
Democrats have refused to fund DHS without major reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving the agency in a funding lapse since February that has worsened staffing shortages at airports nationwide.
Democrats have demanded reforms to ICE, including requiring judicial warrants for immigration agents to enter homes and businesses, and a ban on face coverings for agents. They have vowed to block funding without policy changes.
Schumer has said Democrats sent a new counteroffer Tuesday to fund DHS "while at the same time rein in ICE with commonsense guardrails," but Senate Majority Leader Thune called it "not even close to being real."
