Trump now 'on the hook' for the TSA crisis: report

President Donald Trump has signaled to Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune that he will not sign legislation that would pay TSA workers and all other DHS agencies except ICE — a Democratic proposal that Thune is now recommending — until his controversial SAVE America voter ID and citizenship legislation is passed.

"Senate Majority Leader John Thune approached Trump with a new proposal on Sunday — at the urging of his Senate Republican colleagues and even some White House aides," Punchbowl News reported on Monday. "Thune told Trump that Senate Republicans would support funding all of DHS except ICE, the agency at the center of the bitter partisan dispute over Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to senators and aides."

"Trump said no, according to multiple sources," Punchbowl News added. "The president wants Republicans to stay in D.C. and keep fighting with Democrats over DHS funding and the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill."

Calling Punchbowl's report "pretty significant," The Bulwark's Sam Stein said, "that more or less puts Trump now on the hook for the TSA funding lapse. "Trump also went further in a phone call with News Nation D.C. correspondent Hannah Brandt on Sunday, saying he's willing to let TSA workers go without paychecks for "as long as it takes."

Brandt reported that Trump told her that Democrats want to make a deal on DHS funding but he doesn’t "think any deal should be made on this until they approve" his SAVE America bill.

Trump told Brandt he was prepared to have ICE agents deployed to airports, "For as long as it takes."

She then asked, "Some lawmakers are saying they should just fund TSA while they negotiate on DHS. What do you think about that?"

Trump said, "Now that I did this the Democrats want to make a deal. And I don’t think any deal should be made on this until they approve SAVE America. Ok, so you have a scoop."

In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Trump called passing the SAVE Act "far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate."

Critics slammed the president.

"So just to be entirely clear Trump wouldn't even sign a DHS bill. He's holding your air travel hostage for the SAVE Act," wrote former Biden Domestic Policy Council director Neera Tanden.

"So there you go, it’s Trump holding TSA/DHS funding hostages telling Republicans to vote it down unless he gets the SAVE Act first," said Professor and policy consultant Adam Cochran. "Trump doesn’t care about the safety of Americans. He just wants his bill to help him steal the midterms."

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