Washington, D.C. – House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s action to pay all Department of Homeland Security personnel who have missed compensation due to the Democrat-driven shutdown. Since last year, Democrats have used shutdowns to sideline Congress, abandon Article I duties, and jeopardize the livelihoods of families across the country. In the face of radical partisan obstruction, the White House has been compelled to take extraordinary steps to lessen the impact on personnel and agencies. Democrats – who continually bemoan executive authority – are now forcing it by abandoning the power of the purse responsibilities of Congress and undermining the very institution they claim to defend:
Chairman Cole said, “The vast majority of Democrats in the House and Senate have denied paychecks for all DHS personnel. It’s on the record. While they obstruct, President Trump has once again acted to address their failures. It is embarrassing that the White House has to proceed in this way because – for more than half of the fiscal year – Senate Democrats have refused to do the right thing, and more fundamentally, to do their jobs.
“It is also pure hypocrisy – Democrats bemoan executive authority, yet their very actions are what force it. The President should not have to rely on extraordinary, temporary workarounds to pay frontline personnel. For weeks, Minority Leaders Jeffries and Schumer have sidelined Congress because ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ now dictates their every decision. They’ve hijacked the appropriations process, choosing political posturing over national security and the economic stability of every frontline worker.
“Resourcing homeland security isn’t complicated. Democrats have made it such – and degraded the Article I duties of Congress in the process, trading constitutional obligation for political leverage at the expense of the American people. House Republicans, in contrast, have acted responsibly at every turn – and will continue pursuing every avenue to restore full stability and protect the nation.”
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