Senate Democrats voted to continue blocking the funding for the DHS ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. The vote was a 50 – 45 split, but 60 votes were needed to overcome the filibuster, according to The Hill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune posed the question as to whether Democrats are “actually interested in a solution” or if their actual agenda is really more about a “political issue,” according to CBS News.
Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is one of the few Democrats who have consistently voted to prevent a government shutdown. He and several Republicans have argued that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides funding for ICE and CBP through a different funding stream, according to the Washington Times.
DHS Takes ‘Emergency Measures to Preserve Limited Funds and Personnel’
The DHS released a statement via their website on Sunday that they “…must take emergency measures to preserve limited funds and personnel to mitigate the national security and public safety damage at the hands of Congressional Democrats.”
Effective as of 6 am on Sunday, they said the following measures are being taken:
- Halting all non-disaster-related Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response efforts to prioritize disaster response;
- Ending Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service;
- Suspending all courtesy and family police escorts at airports for Members of Congress, which is drawing staff away from the critical mission of getting passengers screened.
Specific details regarding FEMA, TSA, and CBP that include changes in public assistance, non-emergencies, nonessential operating activity, and changes in processing global entry into the United States are detailed on the website. This week marks the second week of the shutdown.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Encourages ‘Defiance’ During State of the Union
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged his caucus members to challenge President Trump during his State of the Union address, but also advised them to be discreet this year, avoiding outbursts and other types of behavior that would distract from Trump’s address as were seen last year.
“The two options that are in front of us in our House [are] to either attend with silent defiance or to not attend and send a message to Donald Trump in that fashion, which will include participation in a variety of different alternate programming that is going to take place in and around the Capitol complex, Jeffries told The Hill and other reporters in the Capitol last week.
Brief Summary of Trump’s State of the Union Address
Many Democrats chose to sit in “silent defiance” during the speech and not respond with applause, no matter what President Trump said or did.
Despite this, Trump went on to express multiple accomplishments regarding all that he said he and his administration achieved during his present term in office. A few of the several that he mentioned included:
- Lower inflation.
- Lower interest rates on homes.
- No taxes on tips or social security.
- Tax credits implemented through the passing of his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
- Safer cities because of ICE involvement in some of the cities with the highest crime rates.
- Fortified borders that no longer allow a flood of illegal immigrants crossing into America.
- Lower prescription costs because of the TrumpRx website.
- A renewal of faith and belief in God, which he attributed to the martyring of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025
Trump implored the Democrats to pass funding for the DHS so that people can receive paychecks again, and those departments can get back to functioning at full capacity for the safety, well-being, and care of the American people.
In addition, he insisted that the Democrats need to pass legislation that would put an end to sanctuary cities, and that they need to pass the Save America Act (SAVE) to end election fraud. This legislation would require all voters to show voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote. It would also eliminate mail-in ballots except for illness or military personnel.
Trump said there’s only one reason why anyone would fight against showing ID and citizenship in connection to voting: “They want to cheat!”
As for Iran, Trump was emphatic that any peace deal is going to include Iran saying the words, “We will never have nuclear weapons.”
Trump said his preference for bringing the conflict to an end is by diplomacy, but he wouldn’t hesitate to use other means if necessary.
He went on to make mention of “peace through strength” and that “it’s been very effective.”
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Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Fox 5 New York
Originally published February 25, 2026.
Elizabeth Delaney
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