Conservatives Support the Trump Administration’s Efforts to Fund the Department of Homeland Security

Letter - Thursday, March 5, 2026

View the letter here.

Conservatives support President Trump’s mission to re-open the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and urge Senate Democrats to come to the table. The White House is negotiating in good faith to fund the government, enforce the law, and keep Americans safe.

The stakes of this funding fight extend well beyond domestic politics — they now intersect with heightened national security concerns tied to the ongoing war in Iran and related global tensions. The Department of Homeland Security is the nation’s first line of defense against terror threats and hostile state actors, issuing terrorism threat advisories and coordinating intelligence and protective actions across federal, state, and local partners. In the context of conflict abroad, DHS monitors and responds to security threats — including from foreign-sponsored cyber operations, transnational terror networks, and potential radicalized actors — that could manifest here at home.

Now is not the time to weaken that mission. A fully funded DHS ensures the United States has the capacity to identify, deter, and respond to threats that may flow from broader geopolitical conflict, including those linked indirectly to current tensions with Iran and its proxies.

The current impasse is not the fault of the Trump White House. Democrats’ decision to shut down the Department of Homeland Security puts politics over public safety. President Trump has been clear: he wants to keep the government open. The responsibility for another dangerous shutdown lands squarely on congressional Democrats.

We are confident the Trump administration will never back policies that endanger law enforcement officers or compromise the safety of Americans, or weaken border security, undermine federal law enforcement, or protect criminal illegal aliens at the expense of law-abiding citizens.

The current shutdown of DHS would is having immediate and harmful consequences for the American people:

• It has cut off resources and funding for FEMA at a time when disaster readiness and recovery remain critical. A Democrat-driven shutdown has weakened FEMA’s preparedness and hinder ongoing response and urgent recovery efforts.
• It has eroded mission readiness at the Coast Guard, hampering critical operations that protect our homeland, secure our maritime borders, and safeguard commerce.
• It has force tens of thousands of TSA employees to work without pay and will likely lead to longer wait times at airports nationwide — all while the transportation sector remains a top target for malign actors, and passenger volumes have reached record highs in 2025. Now more than ever, the United States must maintain a technologically advanced, seamless, and secure aviation security system.
• It has disrupted Secret Service personnel already preparing security plans for the U.N. General Assembly, the G20 Summit, and other major international events hosted on American soil.

Our priority remains clear: keep the government open, secure the border, protect the homeland, and support our law enforcement officers. We urge Senate Democrats to abandon partisan brinkmanship and agree to fund DHS without dangerous and reckless conditions. The safety and security of the United States is not negotiable.