Trump blasts Senate Homeland Security funding plan, citing lack of ICE and Border Patrol resources
President Donald Trump on Friday said he opposes a Senate-passed funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, arguing it fails to fully fund key immigration enforcement agencies. The dispute comes as a partial shutdown of the department stretches into its sixth week.
Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News that the legislation “wasn’t appropriate” because it does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. He said any funding measure must fully support law enforcement operations tied to border security, The Hill reported.
“Well, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t appropriate. Now what they should do is they should terminate the filibuster,” Trump said in the interview with reporter Jacqui Heinrich.
“In my opinion, you can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund ICE. You can’t have a bill that’s not going to fund any form of law enforcement,” Trump said. “This whole thing is about the Democrats wanting to have open borders, no ICE, no Border Patrol.”
Later Friday, Trump reiterated his position to reporters while traveling to Miami. He said he understood the positions of congressional leaders but maintained that the department must be fully funded.
“So I understand [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune, and I understand [Speaker] Mike Johnson,” Trump said. “They want to be sure that people aren’t coming into our country like they have for the last four years.”
The Senate approved a funding bill early Friday that would end the shutdown and fund most of the department, including the TSA. The measure does not include funding for ICE or Border Patrol.
The House rejected the Senate bill and advanced an alternative continuing resolution after Johnson complained that House leaders were not consulted first. Senate Democratic leaders declined to support the House proposal, leaving the standoff unresolved.
Johnson criticized the Senate measure, calling it inadequate. “I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill,” Johnson said.
“We’re not doing that,” he said. “And it is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at 3 o’clock in the morning.”
Johnson said the House will attempt to vote on its version of the funding bill as soon as possible. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave for a two-week recess tied to Easter and Passover, complicating the timeline for further action.
Trump also directed the Department of Homeland Security to ensure Transportation Security Administration workers are paid during the shutdown. In a memo, he said the situation constitutes an emergency affecting national security.
“These circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security,” Trump wrote.
A DHS spokesperson said TSA employees are expected to begin receiving paychecks as soon as Monday because of the directive. The shutdown has reached 42 days.
Full Story : The Truth About the Axe in the Funeral Home
The funeral home was too beautiful for the terror hiding inside it.
Cream-colored walls glowed beneath soft lights. White flowers surrounded the glossy white coffin like a cloud. Gold handles shone along its sides, and a large floral arrangement rested neatly on the lid, as if beauty could make death easier to accept.
Around the coffin, mourners stood in black formal clothes, silent and stiff, their eyes lowered in practiced grief.
At the front of the room stood the widow.
Margaret Vale wore a black funeral dress, pearl earrings, and a mourning veil that softened her sharp face but could not hide the tension in her mouth. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her, but her fingers kept tightening against each other.
Behind her stood a male mourner in a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His face was pale, his posture uncertain, as if he was waiting for something to go wrong.
Then the doors burst open.
A woman in an orange work uniform stepped into the room.
Her name was Claire Mason.
Her messy light brown hair was tied back. Her pale face looked exhausted, as if she had not slept in days. A white apron hung over her uniform, stained faintly from work. In both hands, she gripped a wood-handled axe.
Gasps moved through the guests.
Margaret turned sharply beneath her veil.
“No,” she whispered.
Claire walked straight toward the coffin.
A few mourners stepped back. Someone dropped a program onto the polished floor. The male mourner behind Margaret moved forward, but he stopped when he saw Claire’s face.
She was not confused.
She was not hysterical.
She looked shattered, but certain.
Margaret’s voice rose in panic. “Stop her!”
Claire lifted the axe above her head.
“Open it!”
The blade came down hard onto the glossy white coffin lid.
The impact cracked through the room like thunder.
The white flower arrangement shook violently. A golden handle rattled. A jagged line split across the polished surface of the lid. Several guests cried out and stumbled backward.
Claire stood over the coffin, breathing hard, both hands still locked around the axe handle.
Margaret clutched her chest.
The male mourner stared in disbelief.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Claire slowly looked up at him.
Her eyes were wet, but they did not break.
“What they buried,” she said, “isn’t the truth.”
