Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat known for occasionally diverging from party lines, is openly criticizing his fellow lawmakers over the current partial government shutdown.
Since mid-February, Congress has been at a deadlock concerning funding the Department of Homeland Security. Fetterman has made it clear that he stands firmly against the shutdown and wants nothing to do with the chaos it has caused.
“I refuse to always vote to shut our government down, and I would never be a part of this mess,” Fetterman declared during an interview on “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday.
He highlighted his ongoing conversations with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, who are struggling financially due to missed paychecks. TSA employees recently missed their first full paycheck in March, exacerbating their financial strain.
The impasse has largely arisen because Democrats are withholding support for DHS funding bills, insisting on reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a condition for their backing.
Democrats have refused to support DHS funding bills without reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Instead, they’ve proposed a series of carve-outs to fund specific branches of DHS, including the TSA, a strategy Republicans have rejected.
“They earn, average, about $50,000 a year,” said Fetterman of TSA agents.
“They rely on their paychecks. Now, even not being paid, they have to face those crowds.”
The shutdown has led to long lines at airports across the country, including hubs in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta and Houston.
The lack of pay has led many agents to call out as some find temporary work elsewhere.
Fetterman called for an immediate end to the shutdown, arguing that the American public is suffering.
“I just can’t imagine why we want to continue these things. Just like the last shutdown, the only people that [lose] are the workers and America,” he said.
In response to the long lines at airports, President Donald Trump announced that ICE agents would be deployed to help ease the staffing shortage.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all.”
He added that ICE agents working in airports should do so without masks, which some critics have opposed during immigration raids.
