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Rep. Rich McCormick didn’t mince words this week when he blasted Democrats for threatening to let Department of Homeland Security funding lapse, warning that playing politics with homeland security is both reckless and unpatriotic. McCormick’s appearance on Newsmax underscored a simple point: funding FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard and other DHS agencies is not a bargaining chip for partisan virtue signaling. He’s right to call out the grandstanding that puts frontline workers and public safety at risk.
The standoff is real and urgent: lawmakers face a hard deadline with large swaths of DHS set to shut down Saturday, February 14, 2026, unless a deal is struck to fund the department. Democrats are pushing sweeping changes to ICE and CBP in response to controversial enforcement incidents, and many have said they will oppose any DHS funding bill that lacks those reforms. This is the moment when Washington’s theater of outrage meets the sober reality of national security.
The practical consequences of this brinkmanship are unavoidable and severe — TSA agents, FEMA personnel and Coast Guard crews could be required to work without pay, disrupting travel and emergency response at a time when the nation can least afford it. Homeland Security officials and budget analysts warn such a lapse would degrade cybersecurity efforts, stall disaster planning, and strain response capabilities across the country. This isn’t abstract policy debate; it’s the daily work of keeping Americans safe.
Republican leaders have rightly accused Democrats of using public safety as leverage, a tactic that treats citizens’ security as collateral in a political fight. Senate Republicans and House conservatives are pushing to isolate funding for non-immigration DHS functions to prevent unnecessary harm to TSA, FEMA and other essential services while negotiations continue. If Democrats truly cared about communities and families, they would not flirt with shutting down agencies that respond to storms, secure airports, and protect our borders.
Let’s be clear about the arithmetic of this fight: ICE and CBP have funding streams that make them less vulnerable to a lapse, but TSA, FEMA and CISA do not — which is precisely why the decision to threaten a DHS shutdown is so cynical. Republicans have warned that many of the proposed restrictions on law enforcement would hamstring immigration and border security without improving public safety, and they are right to resist laws that tie both hands of officers in the field. Washington should be focused on common-sense reforms that preserve security, not on radical changes that create operational chaos.
This is a test of priorities and courage. Conservatives must demand that our leaders fund the agencies Americans rely on while negotiating necessary reforms, not surrender critical services to political theater. Elected officials who posture about compassion while imperiling FEMA trucks headed for disaster zones or limiting TSA’s ability to secure our airports should be called out by name and held accountable at the ballot box.
Patriotism means protecting the country first, not using its safety as a bargaining chip. The American people deserve leaders who put lives and livelihoods ahead of headlines; anyone who treats homeland security funding as leverage has betrayed that trust. Washington’s responsibility is simple: keep the nation safe, support those who do the work, and settle policy fights without endangering the public.
