Sen. Johnson says he sympathizes with ICE officers amid protests and funding battle

Jeff Bennett:

Well, to get a Republican perspective on all this, I spoke earlier with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin before the recent announcement of the deal.

Senator Ron Johnson, welcome back to The News Hour.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin):

Thanks for having me.

Jeff Bennett:

President Trump sounded positive today about the possibility of avoiding a government shutdown, saying he is engaged in talks with Democrats. I was among Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to block the funding legislation from advancing. Why?

Senator Ron Johnson:

Well, I’m absolutely disgusted by this process.

I’ve been here 15 years. In that time frame we should have passed 180 appropriations bills on time before the start of the fiscal year in which they were funded. We’re over six. That’s a 96.7 percent failure rate.

To address this, I propose and we voted on the Lockdown Removal Act. We get rid of this defect forever. A very simple bill, just extend the automatic appropriations for 14 days so appropriators can reach an agreement to pass appropriations bills and, less so, a Shutdown Fairness Act.

Let’s at least pay these people. We’ll do it after the fact. Let’s pay them on time. Neither bill has yet been passed. Furthermore, for passage, this package includes $14.3 billion in appropriations. I am part of the Republican Senate Conference.

We have decided against appropriations. We are responsible. We’ve secured the committee chairmanship and will authorize $14.3 billion as we approach $39 trillion in debt. So, overall, I’m disgusted by this process. Other people can pass it on. I will not participate.

Jeff Bennett:

Why is there no greater will on Capitol Hill to avoid brinkmanship?

Senator Ron Johnson:

Because that’s how it’s done. This dysfunction is acceptable. The one-party appropriators love the fact that they have these government shutdowns to create leverage to pass bills we can’t afford.

Again, let me, we’re approaching $39 trillion in debt. Now, I realize that discretionary spending is only about a quarter of total spending, but earmarks are a gateway drug. When I first got here in 2011, there was a big debate between Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe, the two senators from Oklahoma.

Senator Inhofe made some good points. You can’t leave all spending decisions up to the president alone. But I sided with Tom Coburn that these customizations are literally the gateway drug that greases the skis. We owed $14 trillion in 2011. Now we’re approaching $39 trillion.

The system is completely out of control, completely broken. Someone should stand up here and point this out and vote no every now and then.

Jeff Bennett:

In these talks, Democrats are calling for reforms in the way ICE operates. They are calling for body cameras, no masks, and increased use of search warrants.

Are there any of those things you can support?

Senator Ron Johnson:

Well, first of all, they’re basically trying to take the focus away from the root cause of the problem, which is the open border policy, the fact that we’ve brought millions of people into this country, a significant number of murderers, rapists, gang members, members of transnational criminal organizations, drug, human and sex traffickers.

They focus on the martyrs they have created by encouraging their supporters to go out and obstruct justice, which led to the tragic deaths of two people in Minnesota. So they don’t want people to look at the real problem, which is the huge problem they’ve caused with their open borders.

They now want to focus on DHS and blame DHS, the same people charged with trying to clean up their massive mess.

Jeff Bennett:

But even the administration takes a different view. You had Tom Homan today. He has publicly acknowledged that federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, in his words, has not been perfect and that some improvements can and should be made to how ICE and federal agents operate there.

Meanwhile, a new FOX News poll shows that 59 percent of registered voters now say ICE’s deportation efforts have been too aggressive. So isn’t there recognition, even within the administration, that more needs to be done to balance immigration enforcement with public safety?

Senator Ron Johnson:

Well, again, I know I want to – I know you want to focus on the problems that we encountered as we tried to clean up the mess.

But, personally, I feel a great deal of sympathy for the ICE officer. How would you like to be someone who does legal law enforcement activity and have the lieutenant governor of Minnesota running a Signal chat so they encourage protesters to surround ICE officers?

They are under threat. They have been slandered. Their cars were rammed into vehicles of peaceful protesters. So, yes, ICE officers are on high alert, which led to those tragic deaths. So I feel a great deal of sympathy for the ICE officers who are put in this position.

They are trying to keep America safe. They’re trying to keep Minneapolis safe. They feel frustrated and hindered in those efforts.

Jeff Bennett:

Some of your Republican colleagues, including Senators Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis, are now calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step down.

The President did not visit her in particular at today’s Cabinet meeting when he was around the table. I said she was beyond her skis in her initial comments about the shooting death of Alex Peretti. Based on your experience as former chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, do you think she deserves to remain in the position?

Senator Ron Johnson:

I think this is the president’s call. I’ll leave it to him.

Jeff Bennett:

Don’t have a point of view on that?

Senator Ron Johnson:

I’ll leave it to the president. Again, they serve according to His desire, and this is His calling.

Jeff Bennett:

Senator Ron Johnson, thank you for your time.

Senator Ron Johnson:

I wish you a good evening.