U.S. Rep. Dale Strong (R-Huntsville) made it clear Wednesday that he is frustrated with the handling of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security funding fight in Washington as the partial shutdown continues.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains the lone major agency that has not yet been fully funded by Congress. Lawmakers enacted full-year FY2026 spending for most of the rest of the federal government earlier this year.
Last week, the Senate passed a bill to fund most of DHS, with the exception of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Patrol. Senators have said they intend to address funding for ICE and CBP separately in a reconciliation package.
“There’s no way that the people the fifth district that sent me to Washington, DC to represent them, there’s no way that they want me to cut funding to Customs and Border Patrol and ICE,” Strong said Wednesday.
“What that would do, in essence, would set up the flooding of the southern border. Again, we’ve already got 15 million in this country that’s just absolutely against everything America stands for. But what this would do was create the next, the next opportunity for that to happen.”
Rather than take up the Senate bill, the House moved forward with and passed its own measure to reopen the government and fully fund DHS.
Strong argued that anything short of full DHS funding is unacceptable and placed the blame for the shutdown on Democrats’ refusal to support that approach.
“And I’ve never been prouder of [Speaker of the House] Mike Johnson for standing up and saying, ‘Enough, enough.’ It’s time for Republicans to be Republicans and do exactly what we told the people we were going to do,” Strong exclaimed. “Fund the government. Fund CBP, ICE, the Homeland Security bill. Don’t partially fund it. Fund 100% of it, just like the House did. And I’ll promise you this right here, I can’t wait to get back to DC so we can get on the floor and expose who’s a part of this foolishness going on in America.”
The congressman then directed some criticism toward U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who was spotted in Orlando last weekend, for taking a vacation while DHS remained unfunded.
“I can’t help that some are down at Disney World doing some foolish stuff there,” Strong said. “Our country demands better right now.”
Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday they will proceed with the Senate’s two-track plan, even after the House already passed a bill to reopen the government and fully fund DHS.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to 256 Today and Yellowhammer News.
