To Tom Barrett, February 13, 2026
Tom Barrett's Newsletter, Friday, February 13, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) runs out of money in less than 48 hours. If Congress doesn’t act, the department will be forced to shut down and the consequences will be severe.
FEMA will have difficulty responding to natural disasters.
TSA will struggle to screen passengers at airports across the country.
The Coast Guard will be forced to risk their lives to keep us safe without a paycheck.
Meanwhile, liberals in Washington have rejected every good faith policy proposal to prevent a shutdown — all because they don’t approve of the way President Trump is enforcing our immigration laws.
I think this is entirely unacceptable, which is why I voted to fully fund DHS last month.
Now, I want to know what you think. Do you support shutting down the Department of Homeland Security? Yes. No. Unsure or undecided.
My Reply:
Your newsletter is disingenuous about "liberals in Washington have rejected every good faith policy proposal to prevent a shutdown," "shutting down DHS" and your vote to "fully fund" DHS. Taking each in turn:
The Democrats are insisting that ICE should respect the rule of law and the Constitution. They are insisting the ICE abide by common-sense rules that every other law enforcement agency in the country abide by. You and the GOP voted for armed, anonymous thugs be allowed into our communities, free of any consequences for the violence and deaths they cause. That is what you call a "good faith policy proposal." I call it authoritarianism as does most of the country.
Your question: "Are you in favor of shutting down DHS?" is a perfect example of your bad faith. We are in favor of the rule of law and the Constitution: you are opposed to them. If DHS gets shut down because the GOP wants to hang on to its own private army, then the country will experience a tiny fraction of the danger you voted to unleash with your support of ICE. There is no way your constituents will blame anyone but you for that situation.
Your vote to "fully fund" DHS was a vote for authoritarianism: an unaccountable army turned loose on us all. Apparently that is ok with you, I suppose because none of them have toddler chalk. You should be ashamed.