Most vulnerable Senate Dem blames Republicans for unpaid TSA workers after opposing funding bill
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is seeking to pin the blame on Republicans as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown begins to snarl air travel in his state despite repeatedly...
By Fox News · Fox News
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is seeking to pin the blame on Republicans as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown begins to snarl air travel in his state despite repeatedly voting against funding bills. Ossoff, who is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent running for re-election, has appeared to embrace Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's, D-N.Y., hardball tactics during the 32-day partial shutdown. The Georgia lawmaker has joined nearly all Democrats in repeatedly voting against full-year DHS funding bills as the party demands reforms to immigration enforcement in exchange for their support for funding the agency. With the shutdown beginning to wreak havoc on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — the world’s largest — Ossoff is showing few signs of breaking ranks with his party to end the funding lapse. Rather, he has chosen to blame Republicans for the current impasse. "Senate Republicans have blocked multiple attempts to pass legislation to fund TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and key agencies," an Ossoff spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Republicans should stop objecting to this common-sense proposal." SHUTDOWN SPARKS FLIGHT CHAOS AS TSA LINES SPILL INTO PARKING LOTS WITH 3-HOUR WAITS OR LONGER Republicans have consistently shot down Democrats’ attempts to withhold appropriations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) while funding the non-immigration functions of DHS. However, Senate Republicans insist that all DHS employees must be paid and report to work as the nation faces a rise in terror threats. Georgia Republicans have sought to tie Ossoff to the travel disruptions at the Hartsfield-Jackson airport. "It's because of this temper tantrum being thrown by Jon Ossoff, who is refusing to pay TSA workers to do their jobs," Georgia Republican Party chairman Josh McKoon told Fox News Digital. "This guy pretends to be for the average working person while he deprives them of t…