Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said the Democratic Party is using “trained activists” to obstruct justice and using “martyrs as their excuse to defund law enforcement.”
Congress is split over ending the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with House Republicans pushing a bill to fund all of DHS through May 22, which would fund all of DHS until May 22 on Friday night. House Democrats opposed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) announcement that he would not bring a recent Senate deal to the floor, as almost all of them planned to vote for it.
The split comes as Congress is unable to advance the SAVE America Act due to the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster, after President Donald Trump asked that DHS funding be combined with the passage of the SAVE America Act.
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Johnson vented his frustration with the filibuster, saying opposing the SAVE America Act and voter identification requirements is a hill Democrats “will die on.”
“They flooded this country with millions of illegal immigrants, put them in sanctuary cities to plus-up their numbers. But here’s what they even more deviously [did]: they trained activists to obstruct justice, encourage them to put themselves in harm’s way, knowing they could get harmed,” Johnson said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “They got two martyrs, and then they’re using those martyrs as their excuse to try and defund law enforcement, to defund the very agencies that are designed to clean up the mess they created.”
“That’s what we’re dealing with. That’s who Democrats are. Republicans need to get united, and we need to make sure that we blame Democrats because that is where the fault lies,” Johnson said.
The “two martyrs” Johnson cited are Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two people killed in Minneapolis by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January. Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing federal law enforcement agencies of withholding evidence related to shootings.
Two House Democrats also requested that the Trump administration approve an independent investigation into the death of Ruben Ray Martinez, a Texan who was killed by an ICE officer last year.
Johnson also said he’s “on board” with changing the filibuster to enact legislation, but “not enough” other Republicans are supportive of the idea.
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Trump renewed his demand to “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER” as DHS funding negotiations continue to stall.
Trump announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order to pay thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers as the DHS shutdown continues. Border czar Tom Homan said TSA officers could be paid as early as Monday.