White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday dismissed Democrats’ latest proposal on DHS funding and reform as “very unserious.” Speaking to reporters at the White House as the DHS shutdown was in its fifth day, Leavitt said President Trump still has not spoken to Democratic leaders directly, though negotiations are occurring at a lower level.
Leavitt’s comments were yet another sign that the two sides remain far apart as they battle over proposed reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with little to suggest that the DHS shutdown will end any time soon. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on social media Wednesday that Democrats are “not giving DHS a cent until ICE is reined in.” He highlighted a U.S. citizen who had been “violently assaulted, arrested, and detained by ICE agents” in Minneapolis.
Feeling it at FEMA: In the wake of the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, the Trump administration has suspended the upcoming deployments of hundreds of aid workers on duty with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As CNN’s Gabe Cohen reports, DHS leadership told FEMA to “stop all travel,” effective Wednesday. Any travel now requires explicit approval from DHS, which has overseen FEMA since 2003.
The suspension of travel, which affects more than 300 workers preparing for assignments, comes even though most aid workers are paid through a disaster relief fund that has not been affected by the shutdown. FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund reportedly had about $7 billion in it as of December.
It is too soon to tell if the travel suspension will affect ongoing or emerging FEMA operations. DHS said in a statement that the travel restrictions are “not a choice but are necessary to comply with federal law.” A former FEMA official who served under the Obama and Biden administrations disagreed, telling CNN that DHS is “desperate to show consequences of the shutdown, but the DRF [Disaster Relief Fund] is not affected by the lapse in appropriation.”