(WHTM) — Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent called shutting down the federal government “a fool’s errand” as lawmakers in Washington struck a deal to pass most of a spending package but kick Department of Homeland Security funding down the road.
Dent, a former Midstate congressman, made the comment Thursday while appearing on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert.” A Republican, he said Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs reform and that recent incidents hurt trust in law enforcement. But he said Democrats shouldn’t defund DHS, which oversees the agency.
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“Defunding the Homeland Security Department would mean we would be defunding FEMA while people are out of power through much of the country right now,” Dent said. “It would mean defunding the Coast Guard. It would mean defunding the Transportation Security Agency. That’s ridiculous.”
Democrats threatened a partial government shutdown unless the Trump administration agreed to reform its immigration crackdown. An agreement on Thursday would split DHS funding from the House’s spending package. In its place, the Senate would move forward a stopgap measure to fund the department at current levels through Feb. 13.
The House would need to approve the Senate’s change, but the chamber is not expected to return until Monday, creating a momentary lapse in funding.
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Republicans already gave ICE $75 billion through the next four years in the “One, Big Beautiful Bill.” That could stifle any attempts by Democrats to rein in the agency through future funding negotiations.
“ICE is already funded, so they wouldn’t end up punishing ICE after all, but all these other important functions,” Dent said.
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