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DHS shutdown tied for second-longest ever as Dems again block funding amid airport chaos, terrorism concerns
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Long airport lines and rising concerns about threats at home weren’t enough to stop Senate Democrats from blocking Homeland Security funding again Friday.
It’s the fifth time Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans have tried to reopen the agency. The latest failed attempt comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown hit its 35th day, tying it for the second-longest shutdown in history.
As airport lines stretch for blocks and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents go without pay, and concerns about further attacks in the U.S. increase after two shootings last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus aren’t budging.
DEM SENATORS CALL TO FUND DHS AFTER VOTING TO BLOCK IT 4 TIMES AMID SHUTDOWN FIGHT
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during the House and Senate Democrats’ joint news conference on DHS funding negotiations in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
They have tried several times to force votes on standalone funding bills for other portions of DHS that don’t involve immigration operations, including several attempts to pay TSA agents, which have been blocked.
«Republicans are saying unless you pass ICE as is without reform, we’re not going to help the TSA workers get paid and reduce the lines at the airport,» Schumer said.
Thune told Fox News Digital that Democrats have been beholden to their base and forced into a position to continue blocking government funding in a bid to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
«The question is,» Thune said, «[Are] any number of Democrats going to be willing to actually make a deal and have enough respect for the appropriations process and for the job that we have here to keep the government functioning, to step up and do what may be a hard thing, even though their base is, you know, screaming at them to do something else.»
DEMS UNMOVED AS WHITE HOUSE REVEALS DHS CONCESSIONS IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital that it was Democrats’ far-left base that was preventing them from reopening DHS. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Still, there was slight movement this week that could signal an off-ramp is forming.
Democrats, after over two weeks of radio silence, sent the White House another counteroffer. The administration dubbed it an unserious effort by Democrats and, in response, made public a list of five concessions it was willing to offer to reopen DHS.
«The parties remain far apart, in large part because the administration has put forward a five-part serious proposal that we are willing to engage in additional conversations on, but that has not been reciprocated in kind,» a senior White House official said earlier this week.
But that offer and public counter led to a closed-door meeting with border czar Tom Homan on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Katie Britt, R-Ala.; Angus King, I-Maine; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; and Patty Murray, D-Wash., had the first real face-to-face meeting of the shutdown.
That same group is expected to meet again on Friday, Thune said.
«I think we’re going to know today whether we’re actually serious about getting a deal,» he said.
FIRED DHS CHIEF KRISTI NOEM FACES CRIMINAL REFERRAL FROM CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., faced a difficult grilling from a fellow Republican at the start of his Senate confirmation hearing. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
It also comes as the Senate is moving to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump’s pick to replace embattled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. He eked out a committee approval thanks to support from Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., but faces a hostile Democratic crowd in the Senate.
Schumer and Democrats demanded Noem’s firing, and Mullin made concessions during his confirmation hearing that his colleagues across the aisle have been demanding for weeks — most notably his willingness to require judicial warrants for ICE agents to enter homes in most cases.
Still, Democrats were unswayed. They plan to force a vote on just funding TSA, which will also likely fail.
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And Thune isn’t keen on letting lawmakers leave Washington, D.C., again until the government reopens, given that after next week, they’ll get a two-week break for Easter.
«It needs to get resolved, you know, by the end of next week,» Thune said. «I can’t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down.»
politics,senate,government shutdown,homeland security,john thune,chuck schumer
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was chased out of the country’s largest mosque Friday as Muslims in attendance voiced anger over his stance on the Israeli war against Hamas.
Albanese was called several names, including a «putrid dog» and a «genocide supporter» in reference to the deaths of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel, The Telegraph reported.
Video footage showed the prime minister standing alongside Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, at the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney as the community marked Eid, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
GRAHAM SAYS AUSTRALIAN PM PUT JEWS ‘AT RISK,’ CALLS WESTERN NATIONS ‘PATHETICALLY WEAK’ AFTER HANUKKAH ATTACK
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves Lakemba Mosque after a visit for Eid al-Fitr in Sydney, Australia, March 20, 2026. (Hollie Adams; Reuters)
«Why is he in here? Get him out of here!» some shouted.
Albanese and his Left Labor government have drawn criticism for its support of a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel’s right to defend itself.
During the commotion, Gamel Kheir, the mosque’s secretary, pleaded for calm.
«Respect the place you’re in,» he said. «We must engage and have frank and open dialogue with our political leaders and not shy away and be reclusive.»
«You called him honorable. He’s responsible for the deaths of 1 million people, 1 million of our brothers and sisters,» one person reportedly shouted.
AUSTRALIAN PM ALBANESE GETS BOOED DURING BONDI BEACH VIGIL HONORING HANUKKAH ATTACK VICTIMS
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was heckled out of a mosque in Sydney during a visit Friday. (AuBC via APTN)
Albanese was taken into an office inside the mosque by security before he was taken out of the building and into his motorcade.
As he was leaving, cries of «shame on you» and the slur «Alba-tizi,» a derogatory Arabic play on his surname, referencing buttocks, were shouted.
«He wants to come here after shaking hands with the president of Israel, who’s got blood on his hands,» said one person who confronted the prime minister. «To come here and act like nothing has happened is a disgrace.»
Albanese posted photos on X showing him smiling and shaking hands with attendees.
Attendees heckled Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to a mosque Friday, March 20, 2026. (AuBC via APTN)
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«Overwhelmingly, the reception was incredibly positive,» he told reporters of his visit. «I walked through the crowd to the mosque, and not a single person heckled. There were a couple of hecklers inside. They were dealt with.
«Contrary to what’s been suggested, no one was rushed out,» he added. «We just sat there. … It was dealt with by the community themselves because overwhelmingly they did not want that to occur.»
australia,islam,israel,politics
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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer says a string of recent terrorist attacks by naturalized citizens exposes serious flaws in U.S. immigration law, arguing it’s «more imperative now than ever» to pass the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to allow the government to remove «America-hating terrorists» from the country.
First introduced by Emmer in January, the SCAM Act would expand the U.S. government’s ability to revoke citizenship from naturalized citizens convicted of being involved in terrorism, fraud or espionage. The Senate version of the bill was introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
«This has to be dealt with,» Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, told Fox News Digital.
«If you’re going to take advantage of the generosity of Americans, or you are going to associate with known terrorist organizations or commit aggravated felonies or terrorist attacks, even attempted, it doesn’t matter; no more playing games,» said Emmer. «You should be denaturalized and shipped back to wherever the heck you came from.»
HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY REPUBLICAN URGES US MUSLIM LEADERSHIP TO ‘ISOLATE EXTREMISTS’ AFTER STRING OF ATTACKS
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, during a television interview at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., US, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. Emmer has introduced a bill that would denaturalize convicted fraudsters and terrorists of their U.S. citizenship. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He lamented that under current law, «the standards to denaturalize someone are just too high,» but noted, «we have a solution to fix it.»
The bill, which on the House side currently sits in the House Judiciary Committee, allows prosecutors to use crimes committed after naturalization as evidence that an individual falsely claimed good moral character during the citizenship process, effectively arguing their citizenship was invalid from the start.
The SCAM Act already has nearly 50 House co-sponsors, according to Emmer. Once it is scheduled for a vote, he believes it will not have an issue passing and may even receive some bipartisan support from Democrats recognizing the gravity of the issue.
«It’s really simple,» he said. «The message is, terrorists do not belong on U.S. Soil, naturalized or not.»
STRING OF ATTACKS CONNECTED TO NATURALIZED CITIZENS RAISES NATIONAL SECURITY QUESTIONS
Left to right from top: Ndiaga Diagne, Ayman Mohamad, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi. Background: Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan, on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Austin Police Department; Obtained by NYPost; Obtained by WTVR; Madison Swart/Reuters; WJBK)
At the start of March, Senegalese-born naturalized citizen Ndiaga Diagne was killed by police after allegedly killing three people and injuring more than a dozen in a shooting in Austin, police said.
Not long after, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, the children of naturalized citizens from Turkey and Afghanistan, allegedly pledged support to ISIS and attempted to bomb an anti-Islam demonstration outside the mayor’s mansion in New York City, according to police. They have been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and multiple explosives-related offenses including transporting, receiving and possessing destructive devices.
Then, on March 12, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, allegedly attempted to ram his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue filled with children and teachers, according to authorities.
The same day at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone, allegedly opened fire on a class of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students, killing Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to police. He also was killed at the scene.
«Clearly something is broken in our immigration system,» said Emmer, adding that terrorists «keep getting into our country and they keep being allowed to stay here at the expense of Americans and American lives.»
«We can’t go on like this,» he went on, emphasizing, «It is more imperative now than ever that we get this thing done.»
EX-JIHADIST WARNS OF PREDATORY RECRUITMENT AFTER ISIS-INSPIRED BOMB PLOT IN NEW YORK CITY
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-MN., speaks during the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Despite this, Emmer has faced some opposition in Minnesota for his hardline stance.
Local outlet MPRNews reported a community activist leader in his district named Abdikadir Bashir, who is executive director of the nonprofit Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization, accusing Emmer of «trying to erase us politically.»
«The moment citizenship becomes conditional on whether a politician finds us convenient, none of us is safe,» Bashir said, according to the outlet. «Today, it might be the Somali Americans. Tomorrow, it could be another ethnic group.»
Though he declined to hazard a guess on a timeline of when the bill might be passed, he said that «as soon as possible would be my plea.»
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«We have an immigration system that is not requiring these people to actually declare their allegiance to the United States of America and their willingness to be Americans,» he said.
«We want anybody and everybody from anywhere who comes here to chase their American dream and become an American … we want you,» he concluded. «If you come here and you don’t intend to become an American, you intend to change America or destroy America, you need to get the heck out.»
terror,immigration,house of representatives politics,migrant crime,enforcement,republicans,terrorism
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