Leavitt smacks down 'unserious' Dem plan to end shutdown

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday called a Democratic proposal to end the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as "unserious."

DHS went into a shutdown last week after a stopgap bill expired. The Senate previously made an agreement to pass five of six appropriations bills and a short-term funding plan for DHS, to allow for debate on changes. Democrats have demanded concessions on immigration enforcement.

Speaking to reporters, Leavitt said that the "Democrats have chosen to act against the American people for political reasons and now we have FEMA workers, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, the men and women of TSA, who keep our airports moving, who will be working without paychecks for no good reason other than the Democrats wanting to pick a fight with Donald Trump and the president thinks that is irresponsible and despicable.”

“Last night, they sent over a counterproposal that frankly was very unserious, and we hope they get serious very soon because Americans are going to be impacted," she also said.

Democrats have sought to require that immigration officers secure judicial warrants to conduct operations, that agents wear body cameras, and to impose a ban on wearing masks, among other proposals.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.