DHS Manufactures Pain Amidst Shutdown

DHS Manufactures Pain Amidst Shutdown

As we enter week three of the DHS shutdown, the White House has reportedly just now responded to Democrats' offer from last Monday, Feb. 16. Meanwhile, judging by this week’s tactics, the Admin is scrambling to manufacture ways to make the shutdown more painful for Americans.

Last Saturday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the temporary closure of the popular travel programs TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, only to backtrack on this mere hours later after the White House got involved. Next, Noem halted FEMA disaster aid to states for long-term rebuilding projects, citing a shutdown-driven need to “conserve resources.” However, it was just days prior when FEMA testified to Congress that its Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) had $9.6 billion on hand. Now, just yesterday, anonymous DHS officials leaked to the press that the DRF was in danger of being depleted in the coming weeks and now has less than $5 billion in it.

The next inflection point may come when pay for DHS employees takes a hit. The forthcoming paychecks, issued as soon as today for some employees and into next week, will include a pay period that bands both the last week of normal operations and the first week of the shutdown. So, TSA employees and others will miss roughly half of what they would normally receive. The next paychecks, otherwise scheduled to come the week of March 16, will be missed entirely.

With tens of thousands of DHS employees facing a pay lapse, Senate Republican Leader John Thune was at odds with White House messaging this week when he suggested that the Administration should illegally repurpose funding provided to DHS immigration-enforcement agencies under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) to fund all of DHS, not just ICE and CBP. The Administration used similar illegal maneuvers to pay troops during the October-November shutdown. However, Trump Administration officials soon attempted to clean up Thune’s comments, asserting (correctly) that DHS’s funding structure prohibits the administration from reallocating money in the same way, while not saying anything about previous illegal actions.

We’re sure to hear more about all of this when Secretary Noem testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning.

Vance Squeezes More Press out of Minnesota Medicaid Freeze

Citing the President’s State of the Union address and his declaration of a war on fraud, Vice President JD Vance got a splash of new headlines this week by reiterating weeks-old actions the Administration has taken against Minnesota to withhold $260 million in Medicaid funding. The news here might be that Vance and the Administration feel so comfortable with illegally withholding mandatory funding that they’re taking another lap with the press and vowing to expand this campaign to other states. 

Since the Vance announcement, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced a legislative proposal to attack fraud in the state, including increased criminal penalties. Gov. Walz is slated to testify to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday next week.