Obamas DHS Sec Backs GOP on Shutdown, Announces His 'Break From The Party Line' Over Shutdown

Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who served under Barack Obama, is breaking ranks with his own party — calling on Congress to reopen the federal government as the Democrat-led shutdown continues.

Speaking on “The Source With Kaitlan Collins,” Johnson said he could no longer defend his party’s obstruction tactics, urging Senate Democrats to end their blockade of a Republican-led spending bill that would restore federal operations.

“I’m going to break from the party line here on this. I’m a Democrat. I’m with John Fetterman and Angus King,” Johnson said. “The problem I see here is that to pass the budget, it needs 60 votes in the Senate. And what is happening each year now, and what I fear is going to happen in the future, is the minority party wants to link that to some other very, very important issue.”

He continued, emphasizing that funding the government should not be a political bargaining chip.

“The most basic function of Congress is to fund the government, turn the lights on, keep the government working so that the three million people who are public servants are able to do what they do to serve all the rest of us.”

Breaking with the Party Line

Johnson said his motivation to speak out came after hearing from a TSA employee battling stage-four cancer who feared losing her paycheck due to the shutdown.

“I’m sympathetic to the workers who are caught up in the middle of this political fight and being used as a political football,” Johnson said. “Ten years ago, Republicans wanted to shut down DHS over immigration, and the motivation for me was a worker... from West Orange, N.J. [who] came to me and said, ‘Mr. Secretary, I have stage four cancer, I need my paycheck for my co-pays.’ And that was my motivation.”

When asked directly whether Democrats should vote to reopen the government, Johnson did not hesitate:

“I believe that Congress should vote to reopen the government.”

Democrats Still Blocking Funding

Despite Johnson’s plea, Senate Democrats once again voted to keep the government closed, rejecting a bipartisan spending measure for the fifth time last week. Only three Democratic caucus members broke ranks to join Republicans in supporting the bill, while the rest of the party fell in line behind Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The stalemate has left millions of federal workers uncertain about their pay, even as President Donald Trump’s administration continues finding creative ways to keep essential services and military pay funded.

GOP: Democrats Demanding Wasteful Foreign Projects

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana blasted Democrats for prolonging the shutdown, accusing them of holding the government hostage to reinstate millions in wasteful foreign projects that had already been stripped from the budget.

Kennedy said the far-left wing of the Democratic Party is demanding that funding be restored for a range of controversial programs, including:

• $4 million for LGBTQ initiatives in the Balkans and Uganda
• $3.6 million for “dance workshops for male sex workers” in Haiti
• $6 million in “Palestinian media subsidies”

“These are the kinds of absurd spending priorities Democrats are fighting for while millions of Americans are missing paychecks,” Kennedy said, calling the demands “offensive and unserious.”

As Johnson’s comments demonstrate, even some within the Democratic ranks are beginning to question the wisdom of keeping the government shuttered for the sake of foreign pet projects and progressive talking points.