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The Left’s Shutdown is Risking America’s Security

Liberals have now forced three government shutdowns in less than 100 days–and the fallout is rising for our national security.  The Trump Administration is doing what it can to insulate Americans from this political theater, but the consequences of this shutdown may soon become even more serious.  Communist China, drug cartels, and terrorists could not be more thrilled that our own lawmakers are hurting our own homeland defense.

Setting the Record Straight

  • ICE is a political smokescreen.  Progressives say withholding funding from DHS is about “reining in” immigration enforcement.  But even they admit this shutdown has zero impact on ICE’s functionality and does nothing to impede its operations.  We all know the left is sabotaging America’s security to make a political point.
  • Top officials begged liberals not to do this.  Just last week, Coast Guard, TSA, and Secret Service leaders told the House Appropriations Committee how this stunt would damage national security, cripple morale, and force some officers to go to extreme lengths to make ends meet.  But they chose to put politics over the public.
  • Transportation security is already strained–and more fallout is coming.  As the shutdown drags on, fewer TSA employees will show up to work and checkpoint waits will rise–even as TSA must screen millions of passengers and bags.  All it takes is one threat slipping through the cracks for this to turn into a security crisis.
  • The Coast Guard is also facing severe consequences.  This shutdown will force trainings to be stopped, maintenance to be deferred, missions to be suspended, and commerce disrupted.  It may take years to work through the backlogs being created.
  • Our adversaries see this as an opportunity to exploit cybersecurity gaps.  It’s an open secret that this shutdown will degrade the speed and scale of America’s cyber defenses exactly when our opponents have the most sophisticated tools they’ve ever had to penetrate our systems.

Communist China is Cheering the Left’s Shutdown

  • Progressives are eroding our security when we need to deter China the most.  We may be less than a year away from Communist China possessing the capability to take Taiwan–and the CCP is saying it’s ready to fight “any kind of war” with America “to the end.”  Beijing is quickly scaling its military and preparing to challenge the West by force.
  • The Department of Homeland Security is vital for guarding against China’s cyber intrusions, infrastructure targeting, domestic influence operations, and more.  We were already struggling to counter China’s attacks with security funding; now the left wants us to try without it?
  • Shutting down DHS pushes its components into “minimum-viability operations,” slowing vulnerability reviews, risk analysis, and counter-threat coordination.  We need DHS operations at max capacity–not minimum–to guard against China.
  • This political theater is a gift to Communist China.  Xi Jinping and the CCP must be laughing at Congress’ inability to fund our security at home.  Progressives need to ditch this dangerous stunt and face reality: this is no time to kneecap America’s security.

A Reckless Gamble with Public Safety

  • 2026 is one of the busiest years for large, public events in U.S. history.  We are not only celebrating America’s 250th; we’re welcoming tens of millions of visitors for the FIFA World Cup as well as festivals, tournaments, and gatherings across our cities.
  • The stakes for security this year could not be higher.  Public safety is already a challenge. We’ve seen assassination attempts, mass shootings, domestic terrorism, and rioting—plus natural disasters and other threats.  Crowd management and threat detection are hard enough with security funding.
  • Defunding our homeland security on the eve of these events is reckless. This shutdown will not spare special event planning or the Secret Service–which is in charge of national special security events–and could force workplace reductions, slow planning, and prevent public safety preparations.
  • This isn’t abstract—this shutdown could put real Americans in real danger.  We cannot allow Americans’ safety to become collateral damage in a partisan stunt.  The safety of Americans should never be used as a political bargaining chip.

Aerial Threats Aren’t Pausing for Politics

  • The shutdown will weaken defenses against one of our fastest growing threats: hostile and unauthorized activity in U.S. airspace.  Terrorists, transnational criminals, and adversaries use drones and low-altitude aerial platforms because they are cheap, hard to detect, and can bypass traditional security layers.
  • Last week, we saw how difficult it is to tackle suspected drone threats–and that was before the shutdown.  Border officials in El Paso deployed an anti-drone laser without adequate FAA coordination, triggering an airspace shutdown, disrupting travel, and impeding commerce.  This shutdown only makes it harder for authorities to communicate, deploy counter-UAS systems, and protect our airspace.
  • When it comes to aerial threats, seconds matter.  Response windows are already compressed, and any delay increases the chance that hostile drones are detected too late—or not at all.  Our adversaries are ready to seize small windows and moments of confusion where we lack airspace awareness and counter-drone readiness.  They would love nothing more than an open season on America’s airspace.

Every day this shutdown continues, the risks for safety in America grow.  It’s time to stop playing Russian roulette with our homeland security before the consequences become even more serious.