The Trump administration has been blaming congressional Democrats for the government shutdown, which is resulting in long airport lines and unpaid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers. But GOP Sen. John Kennedy revealed that President Donald Trump rejected a deal that would have ended the shutdown.
Kennedy explained, “Senator Cruz and I came up with a plan. We said, ‘Look, it’s a two-step process.’ The Democrats offered, ‘Open up everything except ICE.'” Kennedy is not related to JFK or the Kennedy family, just to clarify. He continued, “Ted and I said, ‘Okay, let’s accept their offer.’ And then, at the same time, we would offer a bill for reconciliation, where we don’t need any Democratic votes to do whatever we wanted to do with ICE.”
Kennedy said this was their compromise so that DHS would no longer be under the partial shutdown. “Senator Thune submitted that to President Trump. As is his right, he said, No. ‘No deals with the Democrats.’ It would have worked. We could have had TSA paid by the end of the week, but the president said, ‘No deal.'”
And yet, Trump’s White House and Rapid Response social media accounts have been pinning the blame on Democrats over the shutdown.
Why did Trump rip the deal up?
Several Democrats commented on the shutdown, speculating why Trump wouldn’t agree to the deal in place. Rep. Jasmine Crockett from Texas alleged that “Donald Trump wants to play partisan games.” She wrote a lengthy post on X, stating, “Democrats have introduced SEVEN bills to fund TSA, but Donald Trump is throwing a tantrum, demanding that Republicans fight with Democrats until his voter suppression bill—the so-called SAVE America Act—is passed.”
Rep. Mike Levin from California shared the same theory on why Trump said no to the proposal. He wrote on X, “Why? Because Trump is holding TSA workers’ paychecks hostage to try and force Congress to pass the SAVE Act, a voter suppression bill that would knock millions of eligible Americans off the voter rolls. He wants to make it harder for Americans to vote.”
He added, “Democrats have been ready to fund TSA from day one. What we refuse to do is write a blank check for an ICE agency that gunned down two American citizens in Minneapolis and still demands the ability to kick down doors without a judge’s approval while hiding behind masks.”
What is the SAVE America Act?
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE America) is largely opposed by Democrats. This legislation would require citizens to show proof of citizenship to vote. Voters must show either of the following IDs to vote: a REAL ID (that shows proof of citizenship), a passport, a military ID, or a government-issued photo ID showing U.S. birth.
The primary concern with the policy is that Americans generally lack access to these IDs. Millions don’t even have copies of their birth certificates. Essentially, it would bar a large portion of Americans from participating in the electoral process.
Additionally, identity is already verified during the voter registration process. Through this, non-citizens are already weeded out from voting. It’s grounds for deportation if a legal permanent resident participates in and casts their vote during a federal election.
For all of Trump’s complaints about the elections being ‘rigged’ in Democrats’ favor, his claims have no proof. Passing the SAVE America Act shouldn’t come at the cost of starving TSA workers and unleashing ICE agents into airports only because Trump wants to meddle further in the electoral process.
(featured image: Wikimedia Commons)
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