[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 75 (Wednesday, April 29, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2095-S2096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Mr. President, on DHS--a lot is happening today--
last night, Donald Trump confirmed what I have been saying for weeks: 
Speaker Johnson and House Republicans are holding up funding for the 
Department of Homeland Security. They are holding it up--the 
Republicans, not Democrats. The White House said it, in effect. The 
White House put out a memo urging House Republicans to stop dithering 
and pass the DHS bill that every Democrat and every Republican in the 
Senate passed unanimously not once but twice.
  For weeks, Republicans have tried to pin the blame for their shutdown 
on Democrats. The Trump administration just exposed how preposterous 
that lie is.

[[Page S2096]]

  Republican dysfunction is endangering our national security. House 
Republicans have been so busy fighting one another in the House that 
FISA may expire.
  Republicans, get your act together. Our national security depends on 
it.
  While Democrats have been trying to fund the Secret Service, the TSA, 
the Coast Guard, CISA, FEMA, and other crucial Agencies, Republicans 
have been trying to jam through as much as another $140 billion for 
Trump's rogue Agencies. And while Democrats have been working 
diligently and assiduously to try and lower Americans' costs, 
Republicans want to splurge on a $400 million gold-plated ballroom for 
the President. The last thing Americans want us spending their tax 
dollars on is a gilded palace for Donald Trump.
  What will Trump ask Americans to pay for next--a moat?
  What else could $400 million get Americans? A year of childcare for 
30,000 families; skills for training 50,000 new electricians, plumbers, 
and welders; disaster loans for 10,000 households; and so much more.
  Keep in mind that, just 1 month ago today, Donald Trump said:

       There's not one dime of government money going into the 
     ballroom.

  Then put your money where your mouth is, President Trump. Stop trying 
to waste Americans' hard-earned tax dollars on this extravagance, and 
get your party to work with Democrats to keep the American people safe.

                          ____________________