All posts tagged "department of homeland security"

GOP reps say they 'have no choice' over ICE funding headache: analysis

GOP representatives do not have long to pass a funding bill for ICE, and doing so may prove impossible, according to party members.

The Republican Party cannot muster the votes necessary to pass a funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the Democratic Party standing in the way of a funding measure. The bill would see the Department of Homeland Security reopened after a record-breaking shutdown, though Republican representatives fear there will be no middle ground between the two parties.

Speaking to Politico, Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota claimed the GOP simply has no choice when it comes to securing ICE funding. Donald Trump previously issued a June 1 deadline for a bill that would fund the government agency.

Trump took to Truth Social earlier this week and posted, "We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us."

Sen. Hoeven believes it is not as easy as Trump portrays it, saying, "Democrats have put us where we are, and we have to deal with it. We don't have a choice."

Further complaints from the Democratic Party over funding of the Iran war will cause further issues for the GOP, with Sen. Chris Coons speaking of how he and his colleagues view the problems for the party in power.

Sen. Coons, the Democratic Party's senator for Delaware, said enacting funding through reconciliation "requires no compromise with the other party. And if that becomes the sole way we fund the core functions of government, that is a bad idea."

Even some Republicans aired their concern about a funding bill for the Iran war being backed by the Democratic Party. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole said, "I would prefer not to. We'll wait and see. A lot of that depends on what the Democrats want to do."

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) believes the Democrats' refusal to pass the Border Patrol and ICE funding bill would come back to haunt them. Collins warned it "sets a precedent that they may one day come to regret."

Trump claims GOP 'unified' on plan to bypass Dems on ICE funding: 'I will sign an order'

President Donald Trump thanked Republican congressional leaders for standing down on the funding bill that would have ended the partial government shutdown — instead moving away from the bipartisan legislation and extending the ongoing stalemate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune had agreed on Wednesday to move forward with the bill but had reversed their decision by early Thursday. Now, Republicans have rejected the Senate’s bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, according to The New York Times.

He wrote the following on his Truth Social platform:

"Thank you to all of our Great Congressional Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Senate Leader John Thune, for their work this week. Republicans are UNIFIED, and moving forward on a plan that will reload funding for our FANTASTIC Border Patrol and Immigration Enforcement Officers. Because the Democrats are fully and 100% committed to the Radical Left Policy of Open Borders and Zero Immigration Enforcement (which will hopefully cost them dearly in the Midterms!), allowing Murderers and Criminals of all types into our Country, totally unchecked and unvetted, I will soon sign an order to pay ALL of the incredible employees at the Department of Homeland Security. Their families have suffered far too long at the hands of the Extreme Liberal 'Leaders,' Cryin’ Chuck Schumer and Hakeem 'High Tax' Jeffries. Nevertheless, help is on the way for our Brave and Patriotic Public Servants who have continued to work hard, and do their part to protect and defend our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Calls for DHS to be shuttered permanently as agency's original aim has been lost: analysis

The Department of Homeland Security should be closed down permanently by the next president, a political analyst has argued.

The Senate and House have yet to strike a deal on reopening the DHS, which has so far been closed for 48 days. It marks the longest shutdown in the agency's history, and some political analysts are questioning whether it is needed at all. Faiza Patel, the senior director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, suggested the DHS had run its course.

She told Salon, "It [the DHS] actually does have a lot of oversight mechanisms built in, but they haven’t functioned particularly well, and they haven’t been able to meaningfully constrain law enforcement abuses over the course of the department’s history, but particularly so now, and the administration has pretty easily discarded them.

"They’ll put out these bulletins that are based on some random social media posts, and then create this kind of very threatening environment, which obviously would have consequences for how law enforcement on the ground would respond and from the fusion center side as well.

"There’s definitely been a huge flood of unverified, not high quality information coming into DHS. Whether or not that system actually provides any counterterrorism benefit, I think, is really, really questionable."

Further analysis from Patel and Salon columnist Russell Payne suggested the department had lost its way, and the original aims established during its founding were now overshadowed by matters of immigration.

Payne wrote, "Patel said that over the past 24 years, since DHS’s founding, its counterterrorism mission has been eclipsed by immigration enforcement and emergency response duties, in large part due to a lack of real terror threats against the United States.

"There are also valid questions, Patel said, about what the department’s countererror offices are even accomplishing." Further criticism of the DHS has been outlined by Chris Edwards, the Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, who argued that much of the workload could be outsourced to private companies.

"The model is the Canadian system, which is run by a nonprofit private organization,” Edwards said. “In most European airports and Canada. The screening is done by private companies that you know are hired, and they compete against each other for contracts, and they’re rated on their performance and that sort of thing.”

Calls for the next president to act against the DHS were made by David Perry, a University of Minnesota historian who believes segmenting the agency is the best course of action.

"Put bureaucracy with bureaucracy, put enforcement with enforcement, separate the [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and give it independence again," he said. "That’s three bullet points. I would like to see those three bullet points in the party platform. I think we can do it."

Payne added, "So far, Democrats have focused their criticisms around ICE and CBP, owing to their deadly and high-profile operation in Minnesota earlier this year. Perry believes, however, that now is the time for potential 2028 candidates to begin discussing what their plan for DHS is."

'You are all frauds!' MAGA loses its mind as Mike Johnson surrenders on DHS funding

MAGA lawmakers and loyalists fumed Wednesday after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) caved in a standoff to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Johnson sided with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in a joint statement, signaling that the partial government shutdown could be over, and agreeing to pass the bipartisan Senate funding bill that reopens the agency without Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol funding.

On social media, plenty of MAGA devotees pushed back on the news. And some weren't convinced that the move would happen.

"Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again. If that’s the vote, I’m a NO," Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) wrote on X.

"Funding for ICE and CBP must never be separated from DHS funding. If Republicans isolate it, they’re handing our border and ICE agents straight to the radicals who will defund and dismantle them every chance they get. Fund DHS fully, or the open borders globalists win," Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) wrote on X.

"NO! Thune will f* it up. Pass the Save American Act and nuke the filibuster," user Chiron, who shares pro-Trump and anti-vaccine content, wrote on X.

"YOU ARE ALL FRAUDS. TRUMP SAID HE WON'T SIGN ANYTHING UNTIL THE SAVE AMERICA ACT IS PASSED," user Midwest Mama, who shares MAGA conspiracy theories on social media, wrote on X.

Kristi Noem's husband breaks silence on leaked fetish photos in cryptic response

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's husband, Bryon Noem, revealed he plans to speak about the leaked photos of his alleged fetish for cross-dressing amid questions over whether he compromised national security, according to reports on Wednesday.

An investigation from The Daily Mail on Tuesday uncovered "hundreds" of messages between Bryon Noem and three women in the fetish scene. Photos obtained by the Mail showed him dressed as a woman with fake breasts. He allegedly sent a secret group of online acquaintances at least $25,000 via Paypal and Cash App.

The New York Times contacted Bryon Noem via text message multiple times to request an interview.

"I will at some point. Today is not the day. I appreciate your heart," Bryon Noem told The Times.

Kristi Noem was reportedly "devastated" to learn that her husband had an alleged fetish for cross-dressing.

Kristi Noem has allegedly had a years-long affair with her adviser, Corey Lewandowski, while married.

Byron Noem has not denied the allegations of cross-dressing or sharing explicit messages in a conversation with The Mail. However, he did deny sharing "indiscreet comments about his wife" that could have endangered national security by exposing her to blackmail threats.

"I deny the second part of that," he said.

DHS staff used spy-blocking bags and sound machines to hide from Kristi Noem: report

The environment inside the Department of Homeland Security under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser and long-rumored lover, was apparently so hostile that staffers had to take extreme measures, according to reports on Monday.

Top ICE staffers apparently tried to block the duo from alleged spying concerns by using sound machines to block recordings because they worried that they were under surveillance, The Daily Beast reported. An experienced employee described the “distrust, abuse, and corruption” within the agency under Noem's leadership as the "most toxic" they have ever seen.

In a Washington Examiner investigation published last week, three people revealed U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott was apparently so concerned Noem and Lewandowski were eavesdropping that he carried his phone in a Faraday bag, which is made of aluminum or silver to block electromagnetic signals and shield cell phones from surveillance or interception. Scott has claimed the pair had conducted an "evil" effort to remove him from his role and he was "paranoid" that Noem's chief adviser was "spying on him through his work phone and had bugged his office."

Scott said he thought Lewandowski was "trying to find anything that could persuade Trump to fire Scott, since Noem lacked the authority to do so herself."

That's what led Scott to make an unusual move.

"Rodney had his cell phones in a Faraday bag," an unnamed source said.

"I had never seen that outside of the intel community, where somebody’s putting their phones in a bag so they’re not emanating and can’t be monitored," according to the source. "I went ahead and put my phone in the bag, and that’s when we had the conversation."

GOP falls into disarray as some reps already regret newly proposed DHS shutdown bill

The Republican Party has been left in disarray over a recently proposed bill to finally end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has warned that some GOP Senate lawmakers are unhappy with the recently proposed bill, outlining what could be a future regret for the party. Speaking on ABC's This Week, Scalise said, "Well we actually read their bill and, frankly, a number of senators have expressed buyer’s remorse with what they did at 3 in the morning.

"So we looked at it. One of the things that we had real concerns with is that it actually defunds over 25 percent of the baseline operations at DHS.

"We sent a bill that was short-term. It’s not exactly what we want, but at least it allows everybody to get paid — all the agencies, TSA, everybody — while we negotiate our differences. We have very big differences between the House and the Senate."

While Democrats in the House expressed their support for the newly written bill, Politico reported, it is still up to the Senate to pass it through.

Scalise said, "The House stayed later than we were scheduled to stay to take up a bill to fully fund the department and sent it back over to the Senate. So the bill is over in the Senate. The Senate’s got options. They’ve got to come back and deal with it."

Right now, the House has before them still the bill from the Senate. They could continue on,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s "State of the Union," "Instead, Speaker Johnson again chose to leave town and not actually take up the bill that could get passed through."

Fellow Republican Party Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was left embarrassed earlier today after speaking about details of the funding bill.

The South Carolina Republican was sitting on a State of the Union panel with Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) when the CNN host asked her about the competing funding bills between the House and the Senate.

Investigation of Noem's FEMA hits snag over hunt for missing million dollar contract

An ongoing investigation into the Department of Homeland Security has hit a snag as a crucial contract has gone missing.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency appointment made by "chief of staff" Corey Lewandowski under DHS head Kristi Noem has sparked a wider search. It was revealed in a report that outsider Kara Voorhies had been allegedly paid $19,000 a week for her role within the department. Documentation of this is yet to surface, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The appointment of Voorhies has left investigators concerned, with an internal watchdog at the DHS flagging the appointment as potentially a matter for criminal prosecution. Tarini Parti, Josh Dawsey, and Michelle Hackman wrote, "It isn’t clear exactly what Voorhies was hired to do, but contractors like her aren’t typically involved in awarding contracts and making spending decisions on behalf of federal agencies, department officials say.

"Her role in those decisions raised alarm bells for the inspector general as well as for lawmakers. The investigation is in its early stages, and it is unclear if the inspector general will refer the matter for criminal prosecution. The office doesn’t have the authority to bring criminal charges."

The ongoing investigation is set to look into "any potential improprieties in the contracting process" and any evidence of "personal enrichment of top officials", according to the report.

But a probe into Voorhies' contract is proving difficult as the watchdog cannot locate the files. "FEMA officials have been unable to locate her contract and investigators are still seeking it, according to people familiar with the matter," the WSJ reported. "Senior FEMA officials were told that Voorhies was getting paid as much as $19,000 a week, some of the people said, which would amount to roughly $1 million a year.

"It is unclear when Voorhies, who officials say was brought into the department by Lewandowski, started at FEMA. She was at the department for most of Noem’s tenure and left this month.

"People close to Lewandowski, who remains on contract as a special government employee, said that he has told them he expects the president would pardon him in the event of a criminal case stemming from the inspector general’s probe." Adam Trigg, a representative for Lewandowski, said his client denies any wrongdoing.

'Speaker Johnson is flailing': Dems pile on as shutdown chaos engulfs the House

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was erupting on Friday as pressure mounted to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end the government shutdown while new bipartisan legislation headed to the House.

Johnson rejected a DHS funding bill passed overnight in the Senate and called it a "joke." The legislation would exclude federal immigration enforcement agencies from the major spending bill. The vote left House Republicans fighting over the next moves just as GOP senators had left town for Easter recess. Johnson said Republicans would introduce their own funding proposal in the House and push for more funding, despite the Senate's decision, which was likely to extend the shutdown.

"Speaker Johnson is flailing," Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) told Raw Story. "And the fastest way to end the shutdown and to pay TSA workers is to take up the Senate bill."

A question remained whether House lawmakers would vote on DHS funding on Friday.

“I hope so,” House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told Raw Story.

A new bipartisan DHS funding bill backed by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) could push the issue forward.

"It's really the only practical solution right now," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told Raw Story. "It fully funds DHS, but it also has significant reforms. Most of the reforms you've heard talked about, so mask removal, the requiring of warrants for criminal arrests, requiring warrants for sensitive search locations, like schools, like polling locations on Election Day — that hasn't even been talked about, that's here — churches, synagogues, hospitals, so all of those are protected."

The new legislation includes some of the terms Democrats have argued for throughout the stalemate.

"[It] creates uniformity amongst all law enforcement for training, requires identification, like I said, the removal of masks, so it does all of that and it fully funds DHS," Fitzpatrick added.

Fitzpatrick argued that this legislation addresses reforms among federal immigration agencies.

"So what the Senate sent over has no reforms. What the House is considering today has no reforms, and this whole debate's been about reforms, and nobody's offered it in either chamber. So Tom and I are introducing it today, and we're prepared to push it to the floor and force a floor vote."

Raw Story asked Fitzpatrick what the reception among his colleagues has been so far.

"I'll let you know. I mean, we just put it out today," Fitzpatrick said. "You know, we'll find out."

'Astounding to watch': CNN reporter floored as Johnson and Thune now on 'collision course'

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) were at odds Friday after the Senate passed its DHS bill overnight to try to end the ongoing partial government shutdown.

Johnson announced on Friday that he would set forward his own legislation, which does not have enough support to pass, after the Senate bill passed, and called it "a joke." He said he wouldn't support it, despite the Senate Republicans' vote to support the bill to fund all agencies under the Department of Homeland Security except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. DHS has been unfunded since February due to disputes over ICE and CBP’s often violent operations.

CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox described what was next on Capitol Hill as Johnson pushed forward the new legislation.

"The reality is he probably would have enough votes if he were to get some Democrats along with him," Fox said.

"And we heard from [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries earlier today that he said Democrats were willing to do whatever is necessary in order to end TSA workers not getting paid as soon as today. So the votes likely would have been there if he would have brought this to the floor. But obviously, he is facing a lot of pressure from conservatives in his conference who were not happy with what the Senate sent over in the middle of the night."

Johnson was visibly frustrated in front of a group of reporters on Friday.

"It was really astounding to watch the Speaker of the House highlight parts of this legislation he did not like, and then accused Republicans of having not possibly read the entirety of this bill if they were truly supportive of it," Fox said. "It's just a good reminder, like you noted, this bill was passed by voice vote in the middle of the night by the Senate. That means that at some point, there was a unanimous agreement that this was the path forward. And obviously, this puts him and Majority Leader John Thune on a collision course. John Thune is the Senate majority leader. And while he tried not to call out John Thune by name, and he tried to tap dance around the fact that Thune was responsible for putting this on the floor. Thune's the majority leader. Johnson can argue that this was Chuck Schumer's master plan all along, but he doesn't have control of the Senate floor. John Thune does."

Fox pointed to the apparent division among Republicans in the House and Senate.

"Clearly, there is daylight between those two Republican leaders," she added. "And I would also point out that Johnson said he spoke to Donald Trump, the president, just before he came out. That might give you an indication of where the president is right now. If the Speaker of the House felt comfortable coming out here and making such a juxtaposition to what Senate Republican leaders did just a few hours ago, I mean, clearly, this is not a shutdown that is going to end any time soon unless there is some really radical shift in Speaker Johnson's direction, given how forceful he just was, that does not look to be the case right now."