WATCH: Tulsi Gabbard blasts ‘incompetent’ Congress over failing border security in omnibus bill
Heather Hamilton
Video Embed
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard blasted Democrats and Republicans in Congress as “incompetent” for side-stepping border security as they worked to pass the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill.
“There’s about $1.5 billion there that’s been set aside for Customs and Border Protection, border security,” Gabbard told Fox News on Thursday. “The problem is the language also says they’re not actually allowed to use any of that money to secure the border. They can’t use it to expand their security capabilities. So, when you look at what they’re actually doing, ultimately they either don’t care, as you said, or they are purely incompetent, either way they’re failing at their jobs.”
‘HIRE AMERICANS’: JIM JORDAN RESPONDS TO BIDEN’S IMMIGRANT LABOR SUPPLY IDEA
iFrame Object
The Senate voted 68-29 on Thursday to pass the 4,155-page package that envelopes a dozen annual spending bills and brings Congress one step closer to averting a government shutdown as the House is expected to vote on the omnibus Friday.
Efforts to address the border crisis in the omnibus’s Homeland Security Appropriations Bill note that funds will provide “temporary soft-sided facilities, transportation, and personnel support, which will reduce overcrowding at facilities and allow agents to return to the field faster. Additionally, funding is provided for humanitarian assistance that bolsters the operational capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol,” which can include “medical costs for noncitizens in custody and transportation requirements.”
“[W]hat’s at the heart of this is we have Democrats and Republicans, frankly, in Congress who are failing at their most basic and foremost responsibility, which is to ensure the safety, security and freedom of the American people, and that starts with securing our border,” Gabbard said. “We don’t have a country if we don’t have a secure border.”
Gabbard also blasted the $45 billion in aid being sent for the war in Ukraine.
The former Congresswoman announced her departure from the Democratic Party in October and quickly became a strong voice for conservative causes.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Gabbard called for the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants and the prevention of their reentry as the amount of migrants crossing the border is expected to increase by record numbers when Title 42, a pandemic-era policy allowing the government to expeditiously expel millions of immigrants from U.S. borders, expires.