Rep. Ilhan Omar Appears To Make Absurd Demand of Homeland Security
Ever since the 116th Congress came into session, every American has been incessantly told how seriously we need to take the “fresh faces” of the Democrat caucus, particularly in the House.
Sure, high profile new members of Congress like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Rashida Tlaib of Michigan may not have evinced any wisdom or new insight on public policy matters, but they’ve given us the Green New Deal and “we’re gonna impeach the” — well, you know. Isn’t that enough? Plus, as we’re constantly reminded, they’re a) fresh and b) faces.
Perhaps my favorite new member of the Democrat Brat Pack is Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. She was in the news this past week no less than twice, neither time for something laudatory.
In one case, it came out that she wrote a letter in late January asking Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to investigate USA Powerlifting for not allowing men who identify as women to compete as women, saying that “(t)he myth that trans women have a ‘direct competitive advantage’ is not supported by medical science.” Then there was an incident during a congressional hearing on the minimum wage in which her math was so egregiously bad that even “Superman” actor Dean Cain was correcting her.
Rep. Omar is apparently a big believer in the rule of threes, because on Saturday she appeared to declare her support for something nobody else was proposing: demanding the complete defunding of the Department of Homeland Security.
“When Democrats stood our ground last month, we proved that Individual 1 (Donald Trump) does not have the public support to ram his hateful wall through Congress,” she tweeted.
“Let’s stand firm: #Not1Dollar for DHS.”
When Democrats stood our ground last month, we proved that Individual 1 does not have the public support to ram his hateful wall through Congress.
Let’s stand firm: #Not1Dollar for DHS.
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) February 8, 2019
Oh, that’ll work swimmingly. “Abolish ICE” was ridiculous enough, and pretty much every politician who called for that desperately wants us to forget about it, especially if they’re running for president. Abolishing DHS is above and beyond that kind of knee-jerk reactive liberalism, and impressively so.
As Ryan Saavedra noted at the Daily Wire, here’s what that would do: “Completely defunding DHS would end the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), United States Coast Guard (USCG), United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Secret Service (USSS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Management Directorate, Science and Technology Directorate, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and the Office of Operations Coordination.”
DHS is a core component in protecting our nation from attacks, whether they come from terrorists or cybercriminals. They keep our borders safe and enforce all immigration laws, not just the icky ones that liberals don’t like. They’re an essential part of our federal government by any measure and the $45 billion they’re budgeted annually is arguably far too small.
And yet, Rep. Omar wants to defund this all. Why? Because walls are hateful and stuff.
The response was roughly what you might imagine:
Please reexamine your oath of office. If you cannot fulfill it, please resign https://t.co/XDOxz97G2m
— @RealFedco_IA (@HawkeyeFederal1) February 9, 2019
Build the wall! #BuildTheWall
— Leslie Rauk (@lrrauk) February 9, 2019
You do realize the DHS funds a LOT more then just ICE right?
— Michael (@Devilsmirk) February 9, 2019
— James Munson (@JamesMunson4) February 9, 2019
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
In very slight fairness to Rep. Omar, her tweet was likely a reference to a move by four of the “fresh faces” — the three aforementioned Democrats, plus Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts — to cut spending for DHS. In a “Dear Colleague” letter the four authored, according to The Daily Beast, they urged that “not another dollar” be added to the department’s budget.
What she may have meant and what she said, however, were considerably different. “#Not1Dollar” indicates defunding. Twitter gives you 280 characters nowadays, after all — couldn’t she have gone with #Not1MoreDollar or #NotAnotherDollar if she didn’t want it to come across this way?
Not that I mind. For Democrats, Rep. Omar is quickly becoming an embarrassment, a gaffe machine like Rep. Ocasio-Cortez without the saving graces of charisma or digital savvy. For Republicans, she’s a source of endless entertainment and campaign fodder. Consider what she’s done in just one month in office. Keep in mind I limited this piece to Omar-related gaffes that surfaced in the past week. If I were to include every mistake and outrage she’s been involved with thus far in her political career, this article would be a novella.
There is one last thing I should mention, though. Just before she tweeted this demand on Friday, she also had another demand:
Ilhan Omar angry and complaining TSA agents haven’t received back pay, then an hour later calls to defund DHS… which would end TSA pic.twitter.com/OaDTqV3Cbi
— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) February 9, 2019
Apparently, she doesn’t even know what she’s defunding. The gaffe machine, it seems, almost never sleeps.
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