U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) criticized Democrats for holding Department of Homeland Security funding hostage as a way to hinder Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, according to remarks made on Fox News’ Hannity on March 25.
The debate over DHS funding has drawn attention because it affects federal agencies like ICE and the Transportation Security Administration, potentially impacting national security operations and the livelihoods of federal employees.
Schmitt said, “We’re not doing anything to kneecap ICE’s ability to do their jobs and deport the people who’ve come here illegally. The only reason the Democrats want to unmask ICE agents is they want facial recognition software to identify these ICE agents and harass their families, so nobody wants to be an ICE agent.” He continued by drawing comparisons with previous efforts targeting law enforcement: “Again, we lived through this with the defund the police movement Sean, where you saw a drop in people who want to be police officers. You saw early retirements. We’re not doing that again.”
He also addressed concerns about TSA agents’ paychecks: “We’ve done it five times. We’ll vote on again this week. Sean, they ought to go to work and look, I you know, you talk to real people. I talk to real people. The Democrats are so out of touch. These folks are going without their third paycheck.” Schmitt added that most Americans cannot afford missed paychecks and blamed Democrats for recent delays in payments.
Schmitt serves as vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee in addition to holding roles on several key Senate committees such as Judiciary and Armed Services according to his official website. He focuses on protecting free speech, challenging government overreach, supporting Missouri families—including those with special needs—and draws inspiration from personal family experiences as reported by his office.
Schmitt comes from a sixth-generation Missouri family with backgrounds in farming, teaching, and small business ownership according to his official biography. He also engages Missouri youth through programs like the Senator’s Youth Council aimed at promoting civic engagement as described by his office.
Looking ahead in his remarks during the interview, Schmitt said there could be future paths for ensuring stable funding for agencies like ICE but insisted that any agreement must prevent similar standoffs next year: “There could be a path forward where we do it with a simple majority vote on reconciliation… But the Democrats need to pay a price if we’re going to do that… so the Democrats can’t play these games next year.”
