March 28, 2026
Dear Friends,
One month into Donald Trump’s senseless war with Iran, Americans are already paying the price for his enormous blunder. The human cost of Trump’s war has been severe, with thirteen U.S. servicemembers killed and hundreds more wounded. Thousands of civilians have been killed across the Middle East as the conflict predictably spreads throughout the region. The financial costs of the war are mounting — with disruptions to energy production and shipping causing gas prices to skyrocket across America and around the world. And after spending nearly $25 billion of taxpayer money to fund another endless war, Trump has accomplished absolutely nothing of consequence.
This administration’s reckless and often incoherent conduct of the war in Iran has plunged the Middle East and the entire global economy into disarray. And Republicans’ policies have continued to bring nothing but chaos and pain here at home — most recently at our airports. For six weeks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was shut down thanks to Republicans’ refusal to rein in the abuses of ICE. Since February 14, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have been working with limited resources and no pay — leading to unprecedented wait times at airports across the country. This week, in a supposed effort to assist beleaguered TSA staff, President Trump ordered ICE agents into several major airports nationwide — where they’ve spent most of their time standing around aimlessly and menacing innocent travelers.
It should never have come to this. For weeks, my Democratic colleagues and I have pushed to fund a DHS package that pays our TSA workers, provides resources for disaster relief efforts, and funds the Coast Guard — but that does not give one more taxpayer dollar to bankroll the shocking brutality executed by ICE. After countless acts of terror unleashed on our communities, culminating in the cold-blooded killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, this position has become nothing less than a moral imperative.
While I’ve been firm in my belief that ICE has lost all credibility and must be abolished for good, my Democratic colleagues and I continued to push for legislation that would fund other essential parts of the DHS budget.
Early Friday morning, Republicans in the Senate at long last came around and joined Democratic efforts to advance a bill that funded most of DHS without giving another cent to ICE and Border Patrol. I stood ready to vote alongside my colleagues on that Senate-passed bill without delay so that hardworking TSA agents could finally be paid, and travelers burdened with obscenely long wait times at airports could breathe a sigh of relief. But just hours after that promising news of a compromise, House Republicans pumped the breaks on the bipartisan Senate deal. They refused to even bring this bill up for a vote. Instead, they are pivoting to a temporary spending package that continues to pad ICE’s pockets while just kicking the can down the road on other DHS programs. House Republicans did this knowing that this bill must be sent back to the Senate, which had already adjourned and left D.C. for a scheduled two-week district work period.
In other words, House Republicans ignored a DHS budget bill laid at their feet by the Senate in favor of a dead on arrival package that halts any further progress to address the deteriorating situation at our airports and condemns TSA agents to continue to work without pay and shoulder the burden of this partial shutdown.
Whether it’s endless wars, surging energy costs, or an ongoing crisis at our airports, the impacts of Republicans’ campaign of chaos and uncertainty have been devastating. I know how frustrating and disheartening this chaos can be. Please know that, through it all, I’m fighting to restore sanity to Congress and focus on making life better for Americans. That is the very least government owes to its people.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from governments and agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- With our democracy under attack by Donald Trump and his administration, many of you have asked what legal action is being taken to stop this assault.
- That’s why next Tuesday, March 31st at 6:00 PM, I’m joining with Democracy Forward to provide an important update on our efforts.
- This virtual event will be streamed live on my YouTube page, and a full video recording will be available following the conclusion of the event.
- If you have a question you’d like to ask me or our guest, you can submit it HERE.
- To tune in live or to view the recording of the event after it concludes, click HERE.
