Dem Calls For DHS Funding After Synagogue Terror Attack — But Rewind 24 Hours

Just one day after voting against legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) called for the department to be funded while speaking about a terror attack on a Michigan synagogue. 

During a press conference on the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, Slotkin said Congress should fund DHS but exclude allocations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“We need to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and we need, in my view, to cut away all the conversation on ICE, which is its own conversation, from all the core missions of the Department of Homeland Security,” Slotkin said. 

Her remarks came one day after Slotkin joined all Senate Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in blocking legislation to fund DHS.

When asked whether DHS was less prepared for terror attacks because of the partial shutdown, Slotkin said essential personnel were still working. 

“The department, because they are essential workers, they have been at work, certainly in Michigan, we have a ton of DHS folks, CBP, and so they are on the call and they are doing their jobs,” she said. “But they’re essential, they’re on the job, they’re working today.”

Slotkin made the comments alongside Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer during a press conference addressing Thursday’s terror attack. Authorities say Ayman Mohamad Ghazali rammed his truck into the synagogue and opened fire with a rifle before being shot and killed by synagogue security personnel. Ghazali was born in Lebanon and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016. 

DHS has faced a funding lapse since February 14 as Democrats and Republicans clash over ICE policy. Agencies under DHS include the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, and the Coast Guard.

Some analysts have warned that the shutdown is hampering the government’s counterterrorism efforts. 

“We’re dealing with a heightened threat environment right now, and we need the federal government security capabilities to be firing on all cylinders,” said Nathan Sales, former special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS.