Stephen A. Smith: ‘Both sides of the aisle should be ashamed’ for DHS shutdown

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said that both political parties carry the blame for the government shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

Legislators in Congress are struggling to negotiate a funding package for the department, which has been shut down fore more than four weeks.

“The shutdown is just egregious, and I think both sides of the aisle should be ashamed for that,” Smith told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday. 

Democrats have refused to fund DHS because they are demanding changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the wake of the killings of two people in January in Minneapolis.

The Trump administration has since changed leadership at DHS; a confirmation hearing is being held Wednesday for President Trump’s nominee to succeed outgoing Sec. Kristi Noem.

In addition to ICE and CBP, the DHS funding package covers agencies like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). 

TSA agents missed their first full paycheck last Friday, leaving these essential workers to work temporarily without a wage. 

“People are petrified because they don’t know what’s coming up next. That’s not a win,” Smith said. “That’s not a good situation for either side of the aisle to be in.”

The White House has continued to refuse Democrats’ specific demands. On Tuesday, the Trump administration offered to make several reforms to ICE, including expanding body camera use and limiting federal officers’ presence around “sensitive locations” like schools and hospitals. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced his plans to launch a discharge petition on Wednesday to fund DHS agencies unrelated to immigration enforcement operations. A similar measure in the Senate failed last week due to Republican opposition. 

Republican lawmakers have accused Democrats of attempting to “defund the police.”

“One of the dumbest political ideas may be in the history of American politics — but the Democrats aren’t done with it,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. “Now that you’re in another moment of Democrat-created chaos, what is their answer? To defund law enforcement again.”

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