Joe Scarborough slammed Republicans on Thursday’s “Morning Joe” for their repeated refusal to partner with Democrats to reopen some parts of the Department of Homeland Security, as the showdown in Washington, D.C., over federal immigration enforcement continues.
“Sometimes things are complicated and confusing,” Scarborough said. “This is not confusing.”
As he explained, Democrats are currently pushing legislation to partially fund some agencies inside DHS, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. However, in order to pass those bills, Democrats, as the minority party, need Republicans to join in on the effort.
“If everybody agrees on something, they can pass it with unanimous consent. So Democrats keep going to the Senate floor,” Scarborough said, and “Republicans stand up and say no.”
A majority of the department’s funding has been withheld since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, when Democrats demanded a major overhaul of the agency carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort.
Last week, more than 100,000 DHS workers missed their first full paycheck. Despite not being paid, many of those workers are considered essential employees and therefore are required to work during the shutdown.
“Republicans keep killing these opportunities to pay these people for the work they’re doing to keep us safe, in the air, on the seas,” Scarborough said. “All of this is to allow ICE to continue being the out-of-control, reckless agency that it was under Kristi Noem.” Scarborough said he couldn’t understand “why Republicans are screwing their own constituents every single day: businesspeople that have to fly, families that have to get home to see their mothers or their fathers or the grandmothers or the grandfathers, parents that need to get to the kids to help with a child that may be sick.” “I mean, why are Republicans doing this?” he asked. “Why aren’t they stopping this? Why is ICE so important to them that they are screwing their own constituents to protect guys in masks?” You can watch Scarborough’s analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”
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