House Republicans blame Democrats for DHS shutdown, cite Sheridan Gorman killing as example

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders blamed Democratic lawmakers for a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown and said that the lapse threatens public safety, citing the March killing of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in Chicago.

"This shutdown is a choice made by Democrats," an opening lawmaker said, arguing that policies he described as "sanctuary" practices had allowed violent noncitizen suspects to be released and later commit violent crimes. Speaker Johnson repeated the claim in his remarks, saying the accused in the Chicago case had prior arrests and "was released despite the request of the US government that he be detained and deported." Those statements were presented by Republican leaders as the rationale for pressing Congress to fund DHS now.

Juan Suscomani, who identified himself and his district, thanked DHS staff for continuing to work without pay and said he will press Congress to consider the "Pay Our Homeland Defenders Act" the next day. "This legislation ... ensures the TSA agents and all DHS personnel ... are paid for their critical work," Suscomani said, according to the transcript.

Steve Scalise, described in the event as a House leader, urged the public to watch the floor vote and cited a figure he said represented unpaid time for some TSA employees: "For those workers, TSA workers ... they have gone 49% of this fiscal year without a paycheck," he said. Scalise framed the expected vote as a clear choice the public could view in the House roll call the next day.

Speakers at the event repeatedly characterized the shutdown as harming TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and other agencies under DHS, and urged a quick vote to restore funding. Republican leaders characterized opposition from House Democrats as political and said they expected Democrats to vote against the GOP funding measure when it reached the floor.

The event included a question-and-answer exchange in which leaders discussed legislative options, with Johnson noting that some Democratic proposals seek to break DHS into separate funding parts and that reconciliation or other procedural tools might figure in upcoming negotiations. No formal vote occurred at the event itself; Suscomani said the House would take up his pay measure the next day.

Claims made at the event about the causes of the Chicago killing, the immigration history of the accused and the extent of unpaid DHS work were presented by speakers as factual or supported by their accounts; the public record and law-enforcement findings are not contained in this transcript and are reported here only as statements from event participants. The House planned to vote on the pay-and-funding measure the following day.