‘This is the President’s Party!’ CBS’s Margaret Brennan Battles Trump Border Czar Tom Homan on Who’s to Blame for DHS Shutdown

CBS’s Margaret Brennan challenged Border Czar Tom Homan’s attempt to pin the blame for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown squarely on Democrats.

In a contentious back-and-forth on Face the Nation Sunday, Brennan grilled Homan about the fact that Congress has departed for a two-week recess while the 44-day long DHS shutdown continues.

“Will the president compel them to come back and sort this out?” Brennan asked.

“Look, I hope so. I mean, they’ve got to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Homan replied. “Again, we’re talking about the Department of Homeland security, and we’re in an increased threat posture right now because what’s going on in the world. We’ve got to keep this country safe.”

The border czar added, “[Democrats] want to talk about immigration policies, we can talk about that, but why do you gotta hold the rest of DHS hostage to do that? Let’s sit down and talk.”

“But just to be clear the president is not forcing lawmakers to come back to Washington now,” Brennan said. “He’s going to wait until mid-April to do this?”

“The American people hold Congress responsible,” Homan responded. “They’re on vacation right now while tens of thousands of DHS employees aren’t being paid.”

“Right, but Republicans control both chambers!” Brennan said. “This is the president’s party.”

“The Democrats shut down DHS!” Homan insisted. “They voted to shut down DHS because they simply won’t fund DHS, because they want to change ICE policies so ICE is less effective in the interior.”

Brennan noted that the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fund DHS, which was promptly rejected by the House and trashed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

“Why wasn’t the White House able to get both heads of the party the president controls on the same page?!” Brennan asked.

“Look, I’ve been up on the Hill,” Homan said. “I’ve been in these meetings. I met with lawmakers from both sides. This isn’t a White House issue. This is the Democrats shutting down the Department of Homeland Security.”

“So did you support the Republican bill in that Senate that passed?” Brennan pressed.

“I support Congress opening up the entire government, the entire DHS, and not holding people in DHS hostage because they don’t like immigration enforcement,” Homan said.

“You weren’t on board with the Senate bill?” Brennan asked.

“I’m with the president,” Homan said.

Watch above, via CBS.

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