Washington (February 12, 2026) – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) explained how the desire of some Democrats to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could result in a partial government shutdown for the entire Department of Homeland Security, including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Key excerpts of the speech are below.
“The Department of Homeland Security is about to shut down, and we don’t know how to get it back open. What does that mean? It means ICE will be shut down. We’ve got some ideas about how to keep that operating. They have enough money. It means TSA will be shut down. They will not be paid. That will impact airport travel. The Coast Guard will be shut down. FEMA, God help us if we have a natural disaster, it will be shut down.
“What’s about to happen is top-of-the-list, king-of-the-hill, A-1 stupid, and it’s happening, not just because of policy, it’s happening because of raw, gut politics. If you could see what I see, your gag reflex would be permanently triggered.
“Here’s what’s going on. The Karen wing of the Democratic Party is in control of the Democratic Party, and the Karen wing of the Democratic Party . . . they have gone to the Minority Leader Jeffries and my friend Senator Schumer, and said, ‘Don’t you vote for that Homeland Security bill.’ Why? Because the Karen wing of the Democratic Party wants to defund ICE.
“Now, we’ve seen this vampire movie before. The Karen wing of the Democratic Party also wanted us to defund the police. How did that work out for us? The criminals are still laughing.”
. . .
“And that’s what this debate is all about. I hope we can get it worked out. I don’t want to see flights stopped. I don’t want to see FEMA not be able to respond. I don’t want to see the Coast Guard to have to shut down.
“But the Karen wing of the Democratic Party is the cause of this. And they’re going to have to accept the fact that if the law is the law, or they’re going to have to get the votes to change it because the American people, they see immigration like they see the front door of their home. Most Americans lock their front door at night. Why do they do that? They don’t lock their front door at night because they hate everybody on the outside. They lock the front door at night because they love the people on the inside, and they want to know who is coming into and out of their home. And that’s the way the American people see our borders.”
