For more than a month, Transportation Security Administration officers have worked without pay, causing staff shortages that have left travelers waiting hours to get through security at airports nationwide. Since the start of the shutdown, 300 TSA officers have left their positions under financial strain.

 Secret Service agents have also missed paychecks, hurting the brave men and women who put their lives on the line everyday to protect our highest elected officials, including President Trump. 

 The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has faced staff shortages, increasing our vulnerability to cyberattacks from foreign adversaries. That includes the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has launchedcyberattacks on U.S. companies in retaliation over Operation Epic Fury.

 As communities across the country recover from winter storms and prepare for tornado season, operations at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been suspended, depriving our states of crucial resources. 

 Core operations of the U.S. Coast Guard have similarly been disrupted, including maritime search and rescue, port security, and patrols to stop drug traffickers.

 All of this is happening because Democrats have voted repeatedly to keep DHS shut down, jeopardizing our nation's security at a time of heightened terror threats.

 On Thursday, a man from Lebanon plowed a truck strapped with explosives into a synagogue in Michigan. That same day, an immigrant from Sierra Leone opened fire on an ROTC class at Old Dominion University in Virginia, killing one person and injuring two others. The suspect was previously convicted of providing material support to ISIS, but was released early in 2024 under the Biden administration. And on Monday, the Justice Department charged two men for allegedly igniting homemade bombs outside the mayor’s residence in New York City in an act of ISIS-inspired terrorism.

 While law enforcement investigate the suspects’ potential terror ties, federal authorities are warning that Iran could activate sleeper cells to target Americans. The same day Operation Epic Fury started, an immigrant from Senegal—wearing a shirt displaying the Iranian flag—opened fire on a bar in Austin, Texas, killing three and injuring more than a dozen. Just days before, a federal trial started against a Pakistani national who was allegedly recruited by Iran to kill a U.S. politician ahead of the 2024 election. President Trump was a potential target.

 These are not one-off incidents. During his administration, Joe Biden allowed at least 18,000 known or suspected terrorists into our country. The Trump administration has been working day and night to track these individuals down. But the agency leading these efforts, Homeland Security Investigations, is operating at limited capacity thanks to the Democrats’ shutdown.

 Tennesseans are probably wondering: With such grave risks for our national security, why would Democrats keep DHS shut down? The reason is simple: They are prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens. As a condition for reopening the agency, they are demanding measures that would make it more difficult for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to do their jobs, including bans on masks and roving patrols. 

 It’s important to note that ICE is funded through fiscal year 2029 thanks to Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts. While Democrats try to make the shutdown about immigration enforcement, they are really punishing Secret Service agents, TSA officers, Coast Guardsmen, and our cybersecurity professionals.

 Facing pressure over the shutdown, some Democrats are now trying to save face by saying they want to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and CISA after they’ve blocked funding for these agencies for more than a month. If that’s the case, then they need to join Republicans in passing our Homeland Security appropriations bill. The longer they wait, the clearer it becomes that they are more concerned with defending illegal aliens than protecting American citizens.