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April 19, 2023

No Popcorn for You: Democrats Expose Extreme MAGA Republicans for Using Homeland Security Hearing to Play Politics and Attack the Administration

Ranking Member Thompson: “I’m embarrassed…I know we are better as a Committee than what we saw today”

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, led Committee Democrats in calling out extreme MAGA Republicans for holding another hearing rife with political games and personal attacks under the guise of homeland security. It has been clear for some time that Republicans planned to use this hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to attack him, rather than focus on the budget proposal for the Department and the real top threats to the homeland, such as domestic terrorism and cyber threats.

Before Committee Chairman Mark Green set the tone for the hearing by spending ten minutes berating the Secretary and impugning his character, it was reported in the New York Times that he recently previewed the hearing to political donors by saying “get the popcorn…it’s going to be fun.” During the hearing, Ranking Member Thompson responded to this by saying: “That tells Americans all they need to know about the Republican agenda here. They don’t want solutions to homeland security challenges; they want a headline or a photo op. They want a political wedge issue and something to talk to their deep-pocketed donors about more than they want to work together to get things done. It’s Washington at its worst.”

Ranking Member Thompson also opened the hearing by showing that so far this year, the Republican majority hasn’t accomplished a thing: “Unfortunately, Republicans seem intent on making a hard job even harder, maybe because they think berating the Secretary will get them their five minutes on Fox. They spend time tweeting about their ‘accomplishments’ during the first 100 days of the 118th Congress and touting the number of television appearances they’ve made; meanwhile they haven’t moved a single bill through this Committee. Not one.”

After Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) reminded Committee Republicans of the mess the current Administration had to clean up after the disastrous and anti-immigrant policies of the Trump Administration, Secretary Mayorkas responded: "The policies of the past Administration, those that were cruel and inhumane not only did not achieve operational control under the definition of the Secure Fence Act, but they also disobeyed our values as a country."

Vice Ranking Member of the Committee, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), reminded the Committee of DHS’s diverse and ever-changing mission to keep the country secure, which goes beyond just border security: "While the border is in your portfolio, it is not the only Department's responsibility. As you are also responsible in addressing issues when disasters strike. You are responsible in protecting our economy, securing cyberspace and critical infrastructure. Why are we not talking about those issues that we know continue to expand the threats to our country every single day? My colleagues to the right, only care about the border because they want to carry the narrative that asylum seekers and refugees are ‘illegals.’ That they’re  an ‘invasion’ when we know this is really about a denial of human rights and our commitment to be a country that welcomes immigrants the way we've done in generations before."

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) highlighted how the hearing went off the rails after Republicans used the hearing to solely to attack the Secretary: "We’re sitting here with a shocking lack of decorum to have a cabinet secretary in front of us who has been subject to ad hominem insults and accusations that are completely baseless. I have now counted that six of my Republican colleagues have not asked you single question. They have used their five minutes to speechify, to accuse you of lying, to accuse you of making false statements.”

Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) emphasized that some Republicans consistently ignore or minimize the domestic terrorism threat, which the Department of Homeland Security and Intelligence Community have stated is a top threat to the homeland: “It is infuriating that some of our Republican colleagues have taken to cheerleading extremism and many others have stayed shamelessly silent. The fact is this, more Americans have been killed by domestic extremism over the past five years than by international terrorism. Cracking down on domestic extremism is vital to protecting our American homeland and our citizens.”

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