In the latest chapter of Capitol Hill Reality Show, there seems to be no progress on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. As squabbles continue in Washington, security lines at airports are stretching longer than a cat’s nine lives. The TSA is entering its sixth week without a paycheck, and we all know what that means: that extra splash of cheer we’ve come to expect from the security lines is now served with a twist of frustration. Why? Because Democrats are drawing this out as if it’s the season finale of their favorite drama series.
President Trump, never one to shy away from action, is warning the Democrats that he will send in the ICE agents if they don’t get their act together and make our airports “free and safe again.” Now, we all know ICE is just what the airports need, to make security folk quiver and travelers perhaps wish they had invested in invisibility cloaks. But such is the current situation that Trump is left with few options.
Former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf sums up the president’s frustration. Imagine waiting in lines almost as long as the list of Democratic excuses. Chad pointed out that simply doing nothing and letting the situation descend into chaos is not a viable option, a sentiment echoed by millions of stranded travelers checking their watches as they march forward inch by inch, like snails on a hot sidewalk. The trouble is, moving brilliant ICE agents to the airport means shifting resources, itself a task almost as Herculean as debating with a stone wall.
The Democrats, keeping the funding deal hostage, as if they’ve mistaken it for lost treasure in a high-seas adventure novel, are being accused of pandering to a progressive faction that’s quite vocal about their dislike for immigration enforcement. Nobody’s saying the game’s easy, especially when the threat level is etched higher than a tall tale about honest politicians. Iran is throwing shadowy glances our way, and one would think that getting homeland security funded would be a priority almost as important as securing front-row tickets to a Broadway premiere.
Is it a good time to shut down DHS? The obvious answer, as Chad put it, is no. Yet, here we are. Security threats hang in the air, playing hide and seek with our peace of mind while our DHS officers contemplate rent, groceries, and the mystery of their next paycheck. Let’s face it, they’d rather focus on their mission—keeping us safe—than wondering if they need to swap careers with a contestant on a survival show. Here’s to hoping that someone on Capitol Hill finds the remote to switch off the drama, so the Senate can solve this puzzling predicament sooner rather than later.
