Rep. Michael McCaul: Democrats will have ‘blood on their hands’ over DHS shutdown

Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday that Democrats will have “blood on their hands” if they continue blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security, warning that shutting down the agency during a heightened terror threat is “political malpractice.”

Mr. McCaul, who served on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the funding lapse — sparked by Democratic opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s tactics — is leaving the country exposed at one of its most vulnerable moments, with more than 100,000 DHS employees going without paychecks.

“The idea of shutting down the Department of Homeland Security at such a high terror threat level is unconscionable,” the Texas Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It is political malpractice. It is criminal.”

The Senate failed last week to break the impasse. The 51-46 vote to fund the department fell along partisan lines, with the sole exception of Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat.

The partial DHS shutdown began Feb. 14 after lawmakers failed to reach a deal over changes to ICE following the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

Republicans are warning that Democrats are playing with fire and leaving the nation vulnerable to retaliatory attacks from terrorists following the U.S.-Israel joint military strike on Iran.

An antisemitic attacker drove a car packed with explosives into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday, just hours after an ISIS‑linked gunman carried out a deadly shooting at a Virginia college — part of a rise in domestic terror since the Iran war began.

Democrats aren’t budging.

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Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said talks about changes to ICE are still “far apart” and dismissed GOP attempts to use the Iran war as leverage to break the stalemate.

“It’s very easy for them to get all of this funded, simply to agree to our commonsense proposals on ICE and Border Patrol,” the New York Democrat recently told reporters.

Drawing on his experience in investigating domestic terror attacks, Mr. McCaul pointed to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, as well as recent shootings in Austin and Virginia, and attacks on synagogues as evidence of the threat facing the country.

“If they continue this, they will have blood on their hands,” he said.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.