Steve Scalise rips Democrats for 'playing political games' with DHS shutdown amid Iran threat

EXCLUSIVE: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

"Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this," Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump's military action in Iran.

Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump's immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.

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House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. 

That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.

"We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home," Scalise said. "So we're bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security."

The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.

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However, Scalise said "any responsible member of Congress" should vote for the legislation this time.

"The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time," he said.

DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

While it's most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Scalise pointed out that it's also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.

"We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events," he said. "And that was before Iran."