Kristi Noem warned that Senate Democrats risk crippling airport security and disaster response after blocking a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security faces a shutdown at midnight Friday after Senate Democrats voted 52-47 to block a motion to advance the House-passed funding measure.
The vote halted a White House-backed effort to keep more than 260,000 federal employees on the job.
Noem accused Democrats of playing politics with national security. She argued the funding fight goes far beyond immigration enforcement.
“If we had some kind of an attack or a terrible disaster that hit our country, FEMA is the agency that’s responsible for running our government, for stabilizing our country — and the Democrat Party is choosing not to fund FEMA and putting us in jeopardy in that situation,” Noem warned.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune voted no for procedural reasons so he can bring the bill back to the floor.
Sen. Katie Britt then sought unanimous consent for a two-week stopgap bill, but Sen. Chris Murphy objected.
Noem noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement accounts for only 11 percent of the funding in dispute.
She argued Democrats are holding the entire department hostage over ICE policy fights.
She listed agencies that would feel the impact if the lights go out. The Federal Emergency Management Agency could see disaster grant funding stuck because its GO system would go offline.
National Fire Academy classes would be canceled. Preparedness exercises across the country would pause.
The housing market could also face disruption because federally backed mortgages depend on national flood insurance managed by FEMA.
Noem pointed to the Transportation Security Administration as another flashpoint. She warned TSA officers would be expected to report to work without pay after Friday.
“They’re expected to still show up. How long would you continue to show up for a job that you’re not being paid for,” she asked.
“These TSA employees just went through a 43-day shutdown where they weren’t paid. How often do you expect these good patriots to keep showing up and to do their job, knowing that their salaries won’t be taken care of and their families’ bills won’t be taken care of.”
The U.S. Secret Service would also lose funding under a lapse. The U.S. Coast Guard would go unfunded as it works to keep rivers open on the East Coast during winter weather.
“The Coast Guard right now is keeping rivers open on the East Coast so that critical food and energy sources can get to our largest cities,” Noem stated.
“What you’re saying by not funding the Coast Guard, is that the Democrat Party doesn’t think it’s important that people eat, or that they stay warm, or that our national security is protected.”
She tied the funding battle to the department’s origin after the Sept. 11 attacks. “This is a dangerous situation that we’re in, that the Democratic Party has chosen to shut down the department that was created after 9/11,” she concluded.
“The Democrat Party is choosing not to fund [DHS] and making us very vulnerable to those terrorists being successful here in our homeland.”
A senior White House official told reporters the administration had pursued a bipartisan agreement on overall spending in December.
Negotiators reached what the official called a bipartisan deal on the remaining appropriations bills.
The official claimed Democrats walked away from that agreement in early February following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
The official said Democrats “repudiated that agreement,” which “jeopardized the entire funding package that had previously been negotiated on a bipartisan basis.”
The White House then offered a compromise that would fund five of the six outstanding bills for the full year and extend DHS funding for two weeks. That temporary extension expires at midnight Friday.
Sen. John Fetterman broke with most Democrats by voting to advance the full-year funding package.
He argued that a shutdown would not impact ICE enforcement because of funding provided in a prior law.
“ICE has $75B in funding from Trump BBB that I did not vote for. Shutting DHS down has zero impact and zero changes for ICE. But it will hit FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency,” Fetterman wrote.
Shutting DHS down has zero impact and zero changes for ICE.
ICE already has $75B in funding from the BBB that I did not vote for.
But it will hit FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA and our Cybersecurity Agency.
As a Democrat, I can’t vote to shut down critical parts of our government. pic.twitter.com/QYasx0LwCo
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) February 12, 2026
“As a Democrat, I can’t vote to shut down critical parts of our government,” he added.
In a video, Fetterman backed reforms to ICE but rejected using a shutdown as leverage.
“As a committed Democrat, I want the same changes that every other Democrat wants to make on ICE,” he said.
“We want to find a way forward to produce those changes but shutting down the government is the wrong way.”
Fetterman also blasted fellow Democrats for targeting Noem with “ICE Barbie” remarks.
“I met with Secretary Noem, and I’ve always treated her with respect,” he commented. “I met with her in my office, and I refuse and never will engage on the kinds of s**ist terms like ICE Barbie from a lot of on-scene covering stories won’t of the left me to use those kinds of things.”
🚨 WOW! John Fetterman just CALLED OUT the left for their unfair attacks on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem
“I met with Secretary Noem. I've always treated her with respect. I REFUSE and NEVER will engage in the kinds of sexist terms like 'ICE Barbie' that the left media will use.” pic.twitter.com/v3i8GPk63j
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 12, 2026
Senate Democrats framed the dispute as a fight over immigration enforcement. They unveiled a 10-point plan that calls for ending roving ICE patrols, requiring search warrants before agents enter homes and banning federal officers from wearing masks to conceal their identities.
The proposal also demands universal use-of-force standards, regulated uniforms and body camera requirements.
The White House responded with a one-page letter outlining concessions and later sent legislative text to Democratic negotiators. Democrats rejected the offer.
“Democrats have been very clear. We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that permits masked secret police to barge into people’s homes without warrants, no guardrails, zero oversight from independent authorities,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer declared before the vote.
Schumer acknowledged that border czar Tom Homan announced an end to a surge deployment of ICE officers in Minnesota. He argued that move does not go far enough.
“We need legislation to rein in ICE and end the violence,” Schumer said. “Without legislation, what Tom Homan says today could be reversed tomorrow on a whim from a Donald Trump.”
