Democrats and Republicans are still battling over the funding for the Department of Homeland Security bill as they demand restrictions on ICE.
They didn't give a darn about ICE under Barack Obama or Joe Biden, but suddenly they care because they want to attack President Donald Trump.
Friday is the deadline when we will go into a partial shutdown, according to DHS, unless they pass a further stopgap/extension.
The funny thing is that because of the One Big Beautiful Bill passed last year, ICE was already given a lot of money to pursue its mission, so this might not truly affect them. What it would affect is the other agencies in the DHS, like FEMA, TSA, and the Secret Service. But for Democrats, what do those facts matter? It's all about posturing to their base that they're being tough on ICE.
But Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) had a very direct message to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the Democrats' demands about ICE, which include things like not wearing masks, as well as no immigration enforcement at places like schools, courts, and polling places. The Democrats really tell on themselves when they say they don't want ICE around polling places. Why would illegal aliens be around polling places - unless they were trying to vote?
Even if Republicans agreed to Schumer’s conditions—which we would NEVER do—he wouldn’t be able to deliver the votes to keep DHS open.
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) February 11, 2026
The Karen wing of his party has Chuck’s hands tied because they want to defund ICE.
That’s why he’s wandering around like a Roomba right now. pic.twitter.com/8OmkXvAej5
"The Karen wing of the Democratic Party wants to defund ICE, just like they wanted to defund the police," Kennedy explained.
"And we know how that vampire movie turned out. The Karen wing of the Democratic Party is in control of the Democratic Party. Even if we agreed to every one of Sen. Schumer's conditions - and I wouldn't vote for 'em - he couldn't deliver the Democratic votes. Because the Karen wing will punish any Democrat who votes to keep the DHS open."
Kennedy said that's why Schumer was kind of "wandering around" like a "roomba, looking like a man who has just lost his luggage." That's a pretty perfect description of Schumer, who always seems to be in a perpetual state of confusion when it comes to decisions about his own party. He can't deliver the votes, even if we agree, Kennedy said. "And we wouldn't agree anyway."
The DHS did agree to body cams, but the minute they did so, the Democrats flipped on a dime and then started terming it "mass surveillance" and started demanding that their use face certain restrictions to protect "privacy."
READ MORE: Check Out the Hilarious Whiplash As Dems Flip-Flop on Bodycams When They Realize There's a Problem
Translation? The Democrats realized that body cams weren't going to help their narratives, and it was likely to nail leftists doing bad things.
So if Democrats want to play this game of demonizing ICE here, they're going to hurt the other agencies far more than ICE. That's going to come back on them, and their base should realize they're being played.
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