Dem Rep. Amo: TSA Isn’t Getting Paid Because Trump Won’t Make ICE Deal We Want

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) argued that the White House is “choosing chaos again by refusing to make a deal with Democrats that gets these TSA workers paid. That’s a question of priorities.” And the solution is “come to the table with a real good-faith deal to stop the abuses we have seen, whether it’s masked agents or the lack of warrants or deporting American citizens.”

Amo said, “The fact of the matter is, they’ve decided to prioritize chaos and terror from ICE over paying TSA workers, right? It’s that simple, come to the table with a real good-faith deal to stop the abuses we have seen, whether it’s masked agents or the lack of warrants or deporting American citizens. They’d much rather keep that status quo than pay the hard-working men and women of the TSA who are keeping our nation safe. And that tells you all you need to know, that they’re focused on holding the line.”

Co-host Joe Mathieu then asked, “Well, I’m struck by the rhetoric, right before you joined us, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), used that same word, chaos, to say that that’s exactly what Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants, he wants chaos at the airports so Republicans get blamed and Democrats win in the midterms. We’re at 41 days here. When is there a break? We’re told that the final offer has come from Sen. John Thune’s (R-SD) office. If it does not include demasking, do we make any progress?”

Amo answered, “Well, look, demasking is a symptom of what we have at DHS and ICE, in particular, regarding lawlessness. Why is that necessary? They have not made any movement to rein in the behavior of these agents who killed two Americans. And so, the fact of the matter is, Donald Trump is choosing chaos. He’s choosing chaos to reign through ICE, and he’s choosing chaos again by refusing to make a deal with Democrats that gets these TSA workers paid. That’s a question of priorities. And the administration keeps giving the same answer, that they want the chaos that they’ve created.”

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