Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked on Sunday whether Democrats were waiting for Americans to die before they would be willing to take action to ensure national security.
Duffy joined host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox Business Channel, and he specifically questioned the recent flip-flop from Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) — who repeatedly voted against funding the Department of Homeland Security only to demand that Congress fund DHS when a terror attack rocked her home state.
WATCH:
Are Democrats waiting for Americans to get hurt or killed before they make YOUR security a top priority?@SenatorSlotkin voted EVERY TIME against funding @DHS. And now that an attacker tried to kill Jews at a synagogue in her home state of Michigan, she’s ready to fund Homeland… pic.twitter.com/YyDhOlydAO
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 15, 2026
“Look at Senator Slotkin from Michigan, where there was a synagogue attack,” Duffy began. “She voted every time against funding DHS, and once the threat to her community was real, from radicals, now she says let’s open up DHS.”
“I think that begs the question, are Democrats to get hurt, to get killed before they actually put your security before those who have come to this country unlawfully and illegally?” Duffy asked. “I hope that’s not their position, but we can get to a better place if they would just come to their senses and negotiate after they open it up.”
Slotkin called for DHS to be funded in the wake of the attack on Temple Israel, during which armed security guards were able to thwart an attacker who crashed his vehicle into the building, armed with a rifle. She had voted with her party against fully funding the Department of Homeland Security, prolonging the partial government shutdown.
The partial shutdown, largely driven by Democrat criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), does not actually impact the funding already carved out for ICE but has cut off pay for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among others.
