‘I’m in the fund everything but ICE camp’: Rep. Adam Smith stands firm until a DHS funding deal is reached

As a proposed deal to end a five-week standoff over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding faces resistance from both Republicans and Democrats, Washington Representative Adam Smith is calling on lawmakers not to recess but to stay in D.C. until they find a solution.

In the meantime, DHS workers, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, Coast Guard personnel, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) workers, and others, are forced to report for duty without being paid. One result has been that thousands of TSA agents have called out sick, which has led to long airport security lines — up to four hours at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“I don’t think we should go home for recess without resolving this problem,” Smith told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. “It is an enormous problem. It is impacting certainly all the federal employees who aren’t getting paid, but all the people who depend upon those services.”

Negotiators circulated a framework Tuesday aimed at restoring DHS funding and paying TSA screeners — many of whom have been working without pay during the shutdown that began Feb. 14. The proposal, brokered by Senate Republicans and the White House, has drawn criticism from both parties. Democrats say it fails to address concerns over immigration enforcement practices, which are at the center of the impasse.

Washington lawmakers want more from DHS deal

Washington Senator Patty Murray said the recently proposed plan lacks meaningful reforms beyond earlier discussions, calling it unacceptable amid ongoing concerns about DHS enforcement actions.

Smith called on the president and newly appointed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to make changes to ICE immigration enforcement tactics and include those changes in legislation.

“I think we do have an opportunity here because Markwayne Mullin and the president have both said that they’re willing to make some changes in ICE procedures. So, codify that, put it into this piece of legislation,” Smith told CNN.

Republicans are also divided because the framework of the deal excluded roughly $5.5 billion in funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations, instead of addressing specific constraints Democrats want to impose on ICE actions. Some conservatives oppose that approach, arguing it weakens enforcement efforts.

The president has made it clear he is more invested in passing a partisan elections bill, the SAVE America Act, rather than creating a deal to end the DHS shutdown.

With divisions deepening on both sides and pressure mounting from prolonged airport delays, it remains unclear whether Congress can reach a deal in time to end the shutdown this week.

“I’m in the ‘fund everything but ICE’ camp,” Smith explained. “Then, if we have to keep negotiating ICE, and we do, let’s keep negotiating that, but let’s pay TSA, the Coast Guard, FEMA, everybody else, all right.”

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