Indiana Republican Says SAVE Act Does Not Have to be Paired With DHS Funding

Representative Marlin Stutzman, an Indiana Republican, pushed back on the idea that the SAVE act - a voter ID measure - and DHS funding should be linked. The congressman said that combining the two into one bill is confusing and that lawmakers have to be 'straight up with the American people' that the issues can be handled separately. Stutzman also talked about the ongoing war in Iran and its impact on his constituents. He said that despite the rise in gasoline prices because of the war with Iran, most people in the US understand the need to deal with the threat posed by Iran.

Senate Republicans have rejected Democrats’ latest bid to end a lengthy shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security, prolonging a stalemate that has wreaked havoc on air travel and threatens to ripple through an economy already roiled by the Iran war.

“It’s not even close to being real,” Majority Leader John Thune told reporters about the offer, which he said was a list of nine demands including having officers stop using masks and start using judicial warrants.

Democrats have not made public the details of their offer but they have previously also demanded enhanced training for ICE officers, expanded use of body cameras, and the use of badges clearly identifying officers by name.

Thune told reporters he would accept no policy changes to immigration enforcement if the funding deal doesn’t also fund those activities.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer described the offer as a “reasonable, good-faith proposal” that includes some of the policies Democrats have insisted on to overhaul Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics following the killings of two protesters in Minneapolis by agents earlier this year.

Thune said the Senate will vote Thursday on DHS funding and he hopes to convince some moderate Democrats to support the GOP offer of funding most of the agency without immigration enforcement activities. Thune would likely need eight Democrats to break with Schumer to pass the GOP offer.

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