OPINION:
There’s Taco Tuesday. There’s Hump Day Wednesday. There’s Fish Friday. And now, thanks to Democrats, there’s Shutdown Saturday, reflecting the latest in a growing list of government shutdowns that is slated for midnight Friday, meaning beginning early, early, early Saturday.
“Senate races to avert third shutdown as DHS deal takes shape,” Fox News wrote.
Race away. Where the finish line is, nobody knows.
“A mini government shutdown is on the horizon again, as Democrats and Republicans appear miles apart on DHS funding,” Yahoo reported.
Which way will it go? Deal or no deal? Smart money is on no deal.
Shutdown has become Congress’ version of a game show, with most all of the blame resting with Democrats. This time around — which was predicted to come last time around, when Republicans allowed the Democrats to separate Department of Homeland Security funding from the other agencies’ spending bills — is all about the Democrats’ positioning themselves for the midterms; meaning, it’s all about theatrics.
Democrats have zero — repeat, zero — motivation to strike a deal with Republicans to fund DHS.
They don’t want the U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement receiving any money — any more money than the $75 billion over 10 years already funded in the Big Beautiful Bill, that is — and they’ll happily trade the functions of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency to throw bricks at border patrol. After all, the Coast Guard, as a branch of the military, typically votes more Republican than Democrat; TSA employees are deemed “essential,” and the vast majority will continue working without pay, knowing they’ll receive their back pay when the government reopens; and hurricane season is months away. It’s an ideal time for Democrats to throw their anti-ICE hissy fit.
And hiss, they will.
With much of the media serving as their shields against public criticism, Democrats can carry on with their ridiculous anti-ICE demands for — well — for a very long time. They know that ICE will not stop its border enforcement activities, including operations in key sanctuary and Democrat-controlled jurisdictions because the agency has $45 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill to expand on detention centers and $30 billion to hire 10,000 agents. So they have plenty of opportunity to rail against ongoing and future ICE operations as they continue to use their political platforms to exploit the previous deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of ICE.
Think of the fundraising potential.
Think of the media images that can be cut and removed from context and fashioned into poster-boards for congressional hearings; for flyers for Democrat campaign advertisements; for use by nonprofits with missions to defend illegals.
Think of the cameras that will roll as Sen. Chuck Schumer decries the Gestapo tactics of border agents and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries thunders at the Nazi ICE officers in the streets.
Think of the narratives that can be created to show the utter evil of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — narratives that might then be spun into a massive call to fire her; and once she’s gone, then border czar Tom Homan; and once he’s gone, then Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller; and once he’s gone, then Secretary of War-slash-Defense Pete Hegseth; and once he’s gone — fill in the blank of the name of the next target of Democrats.
Think again of all the fundraising potential of taking down Noem, taking out Homan, etc., etc., etc.
The beauty is the Democrats don’t have to be successful in accomplishing any of this. As a matter of fact, they know they won’t stop ICE from doing its core border missions because, once again, the Big Beautiful Bill has already funded a large portion of the agency. But that doesn’t matter. Success has never been a measure the Democrats consider as a priority. For them, for the left, it’s all about the narrative. It’s all about the messaging. It’s all about the image they create for their low-information trolls on social media and in the streets.
It’s all about creating a country that pits so-called oppressors versus the so-called oppressed, where Democrats are the only ones fighting on behalf of the oppressed.
Illegals are oppressed. Minorities are oppressed. Women are oppressed. Pregnant women are particularly oppressed. Transgender people are oppressed. Homosexuals are oppressed. Poor people are oppressed. Those who aren’t multimillionaires are oppressed. Apartment renters are oppressed. Criminals are oppressed. Criminal, LGBTQ, female minority voters are oppressed. And all those who fight for border security, law and order, constitutional and “justice is blind” legal and court systems, limited governance, as well as traditional values and biblical principles, are the oppressors.
That’s why Democrats are always on the wrong side of what’s right — of moral and behavioral and societal standards. They capitalize on the chaos that comes by siding with and serving the interests of those who don’t want to deal with the consequences of their choices and decisions.
If you’re a lawbreaker in America in 2026, who doesn’t love a Democrat?
So enter the DHS funding fight.
This is the golden egg of political capital for Democrats.
The longer they keep this circus going, the better chances they have for swaying weak Republicans to their anti-ICE, anti-Noem, anti-border control sides. And if they gain even one win, then wait for it, wait for it, they’ll only double down for more, more, more, and use the energy from that single win to fuel their get-out-the-vote and revenue-raising drives in the midterms.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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