‘Cruelty’ Is the ‘Point’: Leavitt Slams Dems on Day 40 of DHS Shutdown

Budget Chairs Push Reconciliation 2.0. Can It Get off the Ground?

Trump Administration Makes Faith Central in Strategy to Combat Illicit Drugs  

Trump Reschedules Iran-Delayed China Visit for May 14-15

  PoliticsSecuritySocietyNews

Democrats Are Back to ‘Defund the Police,’ GOP Leadership Claims

Tom Homan Knows Why Democrats Want to Keep DHS Shut Down

‘I Made a Promise to God’: Christian Nonprofit Supports TSA Agents During Shutdown

‘Very Personal’: GOP Pushing for Dalilah’s Law Vote on House Floor Soon

China’s Military Went Silent Around Taiwan for First Time in Years. Why?

Congressman Asks Trump to Press China to Release Prisoners

Decoupling From China on Critical Minerals Must Be a National Security Priority

  PoliticsSecurityNews

Weaponized Immigration Methods Aimed at America

Budget Chairs Push Reconciliation 2.0. Can It Get off the Ground?

EXCLUSIVE: Rick Scott Aims to Eliminate Social Security Penalty With New Bill

EXCLUSIVE: Poll Finds Virginia Voters Reject Democrats’ Redistricting Push

  PoliticsSecuritySocietyNews

Democrats Are Back to ‘Defund the Police,’ GOP Leadership Claims

Trump Tells Senators to Pass the SAVE America Act ‘for Jesus’ 

Justices Skeptical of Counting Late-Arriving Ballots

Talking, Nuking, or Voting on the Filibuster: Where Does GOP Senate Infighting Go From Here?

SAVE America Act Will Make Absentee Ballots Great Again

Citing ‘Echo Chamber’ on Iran, Trump Counterterrorism Chief Resigns

International Commentary

‘It’s a Very Surreal War’

Netanyahu Refutes Death Rumor With Coffee Run

Hegseth: Iran’s Leader ‘Wounded and Likely Disfigured’

Girl Boss vs. Trad Wife: Forced to Choose?

Beyond the Oyster Fork: An Etiquette Expert’s Tips for ‘Relationships, Work, and Life’

Is the Iran Operation ‘America First’?

 International Commentary

Russia Operating ‘Systematic Child Abduction Operation,’ EU Ambassador Says

Victor Davis Hanson: The New Democratic Party

While Some Allies Hesitate, Israel Is Already in the Fight Against Iran

Victor Davis Hanson: Why Kristi Noem Failed at DHS

Victor Davis Hanson: Newsom’s Rocky Month Shows the Risks of Running on Style Over Substance

‘Cruelty’ Is the ‘Point’: Leavitt Slams Dems on Day 40 of DHS Shutdown

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / @TheElizMitchell

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House Correspondent for "The Daily Signal." Send her an email.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had a message for Democrats who voted against reopening the Department of Homeland Security during a 40-day shutdown.

“For the Democrats in Congress, the cruelty of this shutdown is the point,” Leavitt said.

At Wednesday’s White House press briefing, she told the story of a father of three who recently quit his job at the Transportation Security Administration for another job to feed his family. Nearly 500 Transportation Security Administration officers have resigned since the shutdown began, due to their paychecks being delayed.

Leavitt read a letter from the father: “I think the hardest thing is seeing the struggle that my wife was going through and not trying to bring more stress to her … but seeing her cry every night, how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to survive?”

Senate Democrats have demanded changes to immigration enforcement policy as a condition of funding the agency.

They sent a counteroffer on Wednesday to Republicans to reopen the department, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., quickly rejected the proposal.

“Our offer is a reasonable, good faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months,” Schumer said. 

Democrats want “chaos,” Leavitt said on Wednesday.

“Democrats in Congress are forcing American travelers to wait in hours-long lines at airports across the country, robbing TSA officers and other federal workers of their hard earned paychecks that they use to feed their families,” Leavitt said, “and causing billions of dollars in damage to our economy.”

“They want to distract, I think, from the success of our military overseas right now,” she said, “totally obliterating the Iranian regime.”

As hundreds of TSA agents have resigned and thousands more have called in sick during the shutdown, President Donald Trump has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to support security at airports.

“For all of the critics of this solution a few days ago when it was proposed by the resident, it is yielding results,” Leavitt said.

“Wait times have improved since ICE arrived, and they are doing everything in their power to help their fellow federal service members. But it’s important to take a step back and remember why is this even happening in the first place.”

“For nearly six weeks, Democrats in Congress have kept DHS shut down because they care more about illegal aliens than American citizens,” she continued.

“You have Democrat elected representatives in states across the country who are willing to inflict massive pain on their own constituents to fight for illegal aliens who broke our nation’s laws to come here.”

Ilhan Omar’s Dangerous Neo-Confederate Rhetoric

Biden-Appointed Judge’s Blistering Rebuke Could Change Trump’s Deportation Strategy

Democrats Accused of ‘Abetting Terrorists’ by GOP as DHS Shutdown Continues

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.

You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.

The Tony Kinnett Cast

The Daily Signal Podcast

© 2025 The Daily Signal Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

We use cookies on our website. By using our website, you consent to cookies.  Learn More .  

© The Daily Signal