{"id":2578291,"date":"2026-03-10T17:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-democrats-try-to-signal-to-base-with-dhs-shutdown-guy-benson\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T17:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:15:15","slug":"senate-democrats-try-to-signal-to-base-with-dhs-shutdown-guy-benson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-democrats-try-to-signal-to-base-with-dhs-shutdown-guy-benson\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats try to &#8216;signal&#8217; to base with DHS shutdown: Guy Benson"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-democrats-try-to-signal-to-base-with-dhs-shutdown-guy-benson%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2578291&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>&#8211; The Washington Examiner piece reports that Senate Democrats are using the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse as a political signal to their base, while DHS has been operating without funding as February 14, contributing to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nancy-pelosi-blames-president-trump-climate-change-for-migrant-surge\/\" title=\"Nancy Pelosi blames President Trump, \u2018climate change\u2019 for migrant surge\">partial government shutdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The shutdown is described as hindering national security efforts, with the White House noting hours-long security lines at airports and other operational strains.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The author, Guy Benson, frames the situation against a broader threat environment, including Iran, which he calls \u201cwidely considered to be the No. 1 exporter of terrorism,\u201d and cites related incidents such as New York City arrests linked to terrorism and a referenced attack in Austin.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Benson argues that Democrats cannot defund ICE due to remaining funding, suggesting the shutdown is a show of opposition to immigration enforcement rather than a functional policy move.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The political dynamics in Congress are noted,including House Republicans\u2019 narrow majority,Rep. Kevin kiley\u2019s departure from the GOP to run as an Autonomous, and the upcoming Georgia special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, with a runoff possible on April 7 if no candidate reaches 50%.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Senate Democrats try to &lsquo;signal&rsquo; to base with DHS shutdown: Guy Benson<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2528557\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner <\/em>senior columnist <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/guy-benson\/\">Guy Benson<\/a> said Senate Democrats are putting on a &ldquo;show&rdquo; as the Department of Homeland Security is in the midst of a funding lapse.<\/p>\n<p>Congressional Democrats are <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/national-security\/4485281\/democrats-face-growing-pressure-to-fund-dhs-security-crises\/\">facing pressure to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-passes-1-5-trillion-spending-bill-that-includes-13-6-billion-for-ukraine\/\" title=\"House Passes .5 Trillion Spending Bill That Includes .6 Billion for Ukraine\">approve government funding<\/a><\/a> as the DHS has been operating without it since Feb. 14. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4483354\/dhs-government-shutdown-insane-situation-byron-york\/\">The partial government shutdown<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >negatively affecting national security measures<\/a>, with &ldquo;hourslong security lines&rdquo; at airports, according to the White House.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4487161\/maria-bartiromo-credits-trust-consistency-milestone-viewership\/\">Maria Bartiromo credits trust and consistency on stories for milestone viewership<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4485763\/kai-trump-secret-service-erewhon-video\/\">Kai Trump gets heat for bringing Secret Service during Erewhon trip in video<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4485420\/james-talarico-non-christians-bible-teachings-resurfaced-clip\/\">Talarico says he&#8217;s met non-Christians who &#8217;embody&#8217; Bible&#8217;s teachings better in resurfaced clip<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Benson noted the DHS&rsquo;s funding lapse is happening as the United States is engaged in a conflict with Iran, a country he referred to as &ldquo;widely considered to be the No. 1 exporter of terrorism.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Benson noted that since the start of this conflict, New York City police arrested suspects accused of attempting to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4485746\/nyc-bombing-suspects-charges-terrorism-isis\/\">deploy two makeshift bombs at a protest<\/a>, and that happened about a week after <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/4476302\/texas-bar-shooting-property-of-allah-iran-flag\/\">an apparent &ldquo;Jihadist attack&rdquo; in Austin, Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;And in the middle of that threat matrix, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dhs-secretary-alejandro-mayorkas-opening-doors-for-stateless-migrants\/\" title=\"... Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Opening Doors for &#039;Stateless&#039; Migrants\">homeland security agency<\/a> is in a government shutdown because Senate Democrats oppose the enforcement of federal immigration laws,&rdquo; Benson said on Fox Business&rsquo;s <em>Varney &amp; Co<\/em>. &ldquo;They can&rsquo;t stop it, they can&rsquo;t defund [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] because they&rsquo;re funded for three more years under another bill, another law, so this is a show to signal to their base how angry they are about ICE and the enforcement of federal laws and they have our homeland security agency in a shutdown right now because of it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The DHS funding lapse comes as House Republicans lost another member of their conference, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), who <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4485405\/kevin-kiley-drop-gop-label-become-independent\/\">left the GOP<\/a> to run as an independent. Benson said House Republicans will &ldquo;have to try&rdquo; to pass legislation as it deals with its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/newt-gingrich-calls-on-congress-gop-to-heed-serious-warnings-on-spending-bill-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Newt Gingrich calls on Congress GOP to heed \u2018serious\u2019 warnings on spending bill ... Washington Examiner\">incredibly thin majority<\/a> and added that Kiley &ldquo;might lean to the right&rdquo; on several policies.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/travel\/4484944\/airport-chaos-escalates-pressure-resolve-dhs-government-shutdown\/\"><strong>AIRPORT CHAOS ESCALATES PRESSURE TO RESOLVE DHS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Benson added that Republicans will also need to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4485837\/georgia-special-election-replace-marjorie-taylor-greene\/\">fill former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene&rsquo;s House seat in Georgia<\/a>, after which House Speaker <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4485943\/trump-donates-1-million-johnson-record-fundraiser\/\">Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA) will try to &ldquo;work his magic.&rdquo; He said Johnson has &ldquo;pulled rabbits out of hats&rdquo; while dealing with this small majority and ruled against dismissing the possibility of Republicans getting nothing done.<\/p>\n<p>Georgia&rsquo;s special election to fill Greene&rsquo;s seat is on Tuesday, with 17 candidates vying for victory. If none of these candidates get 50% of the votes, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/updates\/georgia-special-elections-reporting-14th-congressional-district-2026\/\">a special runoff election will be held on April 7<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dems signal to base with DHS shutdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2632,"featured_media":2578292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26061822278487_164c5e-e1773170479733.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[75487,3685,7492,5894,73917],"class_list":["post-2578291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-base-messaging","tag-democrats","tag-dhs","tag-politics","tag-us-senate-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26061822278487_164c5e-e1773170479733.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2632"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2578291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2578295,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2578291\/revisions\/2578295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2578292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2578291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2578291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2578291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}