JUST IN: Dems Begin To Cave As DHS Shutdown Backfires On Party

Senate Democrats are starting to feel the heat as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown drags on, and even some of the party’s own voices are now scrambling to walk things back.

Republicans say Democrats are trying to carve DHS up “piece by piece” while refusing to fund the core mission of immigration enforcement. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., blasted the strategy as reckless at a moment the country is on edge.

“And that’s at a time when our homeland is under attack, all warning lights are flashing red, and they want to peel apart, piece by piece, the Department of Homeland Security, the comprehensive department of our government to protect the American people, because they want to stand with illegal immigrant criminals,” Barrasso said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., insists Democrats will keep pushing standalone bills to reopen slices of DHS, like TSA and FEMA, while talks continue.

“We don’t have to tie that disagreement up and use people at the airports and American citizens as hostages,” Schumer said.

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But Republicans argue they’ve already offered short-term fixes that Democrats keep blocking. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Democrats know the GOP has tried temporary funding measures to keep DHS running while negotiations continue.

“I assume the Democrat leader is aware of the fact that we have tried repeatedly to fund everything temporarily to allow the negotiations over the ICE budget to continue,” Thune said.

Now comes the tell: Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is beginning to cave. After voting against funding DHS, Slotkin is now saying DHS should be funded — and the shift comes right after a terror attack in her state put the consequences front and center. All it took was a freaking terrorist attack to change her tune.

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We’ve been saying this was going to happen. When you play games with homeland security, reality doesn’t care about your talking points.

Democrats are also accusing Republicans of playing politics with airport staffing and security. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., criticized Republicans for blocking a TSA-focused measure, arguing it shows they “don’t care about their constituents, the traveling public, and the folks who work there who are not part of this discussion or this argument.”

After weeks of stalemate, the shutdown is starting to crack the party’s message discipline, and Slotkin’s reversal is the loudest sign yet that the political cost is rising fast.

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