Washington D.C. — Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement on the continued refusal of congressional Republicans to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), excluding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):

"It is maddening that my Republican colleagues continue to hold the paychecks of our hardworking TSA agents hostage. For 41 days, Republicans have refused to fund TSA, demanding that Democrats agree to give more money to ICE and help pass Trump's election takeover bill. Republicans' political games have threatened the livelihoods of the TSA personnel who keep our skies safe. Their manufactured crisis has caused chaos for travelers everywhere."

"Democrats have put forward a clean bill to fund TSA, FEMA, CISA, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Republicans could end this shutdown today by passing that bill. Instead, they continue to take orders from Donald Trump. The American people deserve better."

Background

Rep. Sewell has signed a discharge petition to force a vote in the House on legislation to fund all DHS agencies excluding ICE. Congressional Republicans have already tripled ICE's annual budget, providing a historic $75 billion in supplemental funding to the agency in their so-called "Big Beautiful Bill." ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the United States whose budget exceeds the military expenditures of numerous individual nations. 

After the brutal killings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents and the targeting of law-abiding immigrants, Rep. Sewell made clear that she will not support additional funding for ICE without—at minimum—common sense guardrails to rein in the agency's rogue and unlawful actions.

In a recent Fox News appearance, Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy admitted that President Trump instructed Senate Republican Leader John Thune to abandon an agreement with Democrats to fund all DHS agencies excluding ICE. President Trump instead suggested that congressional Republicans not "make a deal on anything" until Democrats agree to pass the SAVE America Act, which could block 21 million eligible Americans from voting.

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