Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Republican Party controls the federal government. It holds the majority in the House and the Senate, and controls the White House, as well. Republicans could end the government shutdown tomorrow. A quick vote by the majority in the House and, after a rules change, by the majority in the Senate, followed by a presidential signature, would pass a budget into law and reopen the government. Yet, absurdly, President Donald Trump and his followers are blaming congressional Democrats for the shutdown. This is ridiculous. The Democrats have little power in Washington these days. Their only sway comes in the ability to filibuster in the Senate, but that can be easily taken away by a simple majority vote by the Republicans. No, as President Trump might say, the Republicans hold all the cards. The president, for months, has been openly targeting Democrats as he uses and misuses his presidential powers. Threatening Democrats He states, on the record, that he will defund what he considers Democratic programs, agencies, and communities. He brags about using federal law enforcement and even the military in American cities, even though their Democratic leaders object. The country has never seen such presidential partisanship, overreach, and lawlessness. Now, Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, is abusing her powers and playing politics regarding the shutdown. Last week, she produced a video for the Transportation Security Administration, which she supervises, to show at TSA security checkpoints in airports across the country. In the video, Noem blames congressional Democrats for the government shutdown and any related travel delays. She says, in part, “Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted … our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.” Congress created the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2002 with strong majority votes in each chamber. The country has never seen such presidential partisanship, overreach, and lawlessness. No member suspected that a future secretary would so blatantly engage in partisanship on the job. Petty politics should never infect this particular department and its critical national security responsibilities. A number of airports around the country, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Cleveland, and Charlotte, N.C., are refusing to run the TSA video, citing the political nature of its content. Any airport, public or private, that receives federal or state funding could be breaking the laws against political activity by recipients of government money if they show the video. I doubt this legal jeopardy Noem is creating through her avid partisanship will give her any pause. Nor will any worries about her job security. She is doing exactly what Trump wants her to do: Blame the Democrats at every opportunity for anything that is not working in the federal government. But the Republicans could pass a budget and reopen the government tomorrow. They need only to suspend the Senate rule that permits the Democrats to filibuster. Any Senate rule can be changed at any time by a simple majority vote. Elections have consequences In fact, the Senate Republicans just suspended such a rule last month so they could approve a large group of military and civilian appointees by a single en bloc vote, rather than the regular process of individual committee hearings and separate votes on each appointee. I am sure I would not like the budget priorities that unfettered congressional GOP majorities and Trump would produce. But elections have consequences. A single party controls our federal government by the will of the voters. I accept that and will fight it out at the next election. Why won’t the Republicans pass a budget and end the government shutdown? Do they think playing the political blame game is more important than governing? Let them use the power the voters gave them and accept the responsibility to govern. Let them accept the credit or the blame for the actions they take. And stop blaming the Democrats because the Republicans will not do their job.
