I guess we’ll have another federal government “shutdown” starting on Friday night. Except it will only impact a single federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security. And not even all of that, as I understand that ICE and Border Patrol already have approved budgets.
Congress worked out a full budget covering all agencies through the end of September. Republicans have already conceded much ground on spending, and everyone on both sides had already signed off on the deal.
Then Senate Democrats, acting in bad faith, staged a revolt last week, leading to the current impasse. Democrats have provided a new list of policy demands for the budget bill, the first of which (judicial warrants for immigration arrests) is a total non-starter.
There are tens of millions of illegal aliens to be removed. Many federal judges flat out refuse to sign arrest or search warrants, even in criminal matters, as a matter of ideology.
Adding this new step to “due process” effectively repeals laws against illegal immigration and border enforcement.
I’m sure that’s the idea behind this latest “shutdown,” a return to open borders. But the tactic the Democrats have chosen will not impact ICE or Border Patrol, just efforts like TSA or FEMA.
You will recall that the last shutdown (October to mid-November) was over the issue of Obamacare subsidies. The shutdown ended, but the subsidies still expired at the end of the year, not to be renewed. We had a brief “shutdown” the first three days of this month that no one noticed.
So, go ahead, shut down all the commercial airports in America and see where that leads.
