Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Trump “shouldn’t be holding our TSA agents hostage…Republicans continue to block [Democrats’ legislation to pay them]”

UPDATED 5:10 pm: Rep. Walkinshaw says:

“…we have a transcribed interview deposition coming up with one of the prison guards who was responsible for Epstein and his cell…when I read the reporting about the shredded documents, you know, I think there are two possible explanations here. One, there were folks inside the prison trying to cover up for their missteps, right, and their failures to protect the safety of their inmate, Jeffrey Epstein. That’s one possibility. The other possibility is that something other than a suicide took took place and that there was there were others involved in Epstein’s death. Again, we don’t have clear evidence in either direction, but I think each of those are directions that we’re going to have to probe…there’s been the video of the orange figure walking toward the cell or or away from the cell there. I think  there’ll be a lot of questions about that. exactly who had access to Epstein’s cell or didn’t on the day that he he he died. So, a lot of questions that are going to be asked and hopefully answered.”

See below for video and highlights from Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11)’s interview yesterday with Jake Tapper (period reminder that Tapper represents some of the absolute worst in political “journalism,” with constant Republican/right-wing framing, constant bashing of Democrats, also false equivalency, “both sidesism,” etc, etc.), talking about how Republicans are – for absolutely ZERO good reason – forcing TSA staff to work without pay.

• Rep. James Walkinshaw: “Look, it is absolutely outrageous that our TSA agents and our FEMA workers and our cybersecurity workers are not getting paid right now. And that’s why I and other Democrats have put forward legislation to fund all of those DHS agencies except for ICE and CBP, so we can continue those negotiations. Look, Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, the mass deportation agenda is out of control. The American people want it to be reined in. We need to make that happen. But we shouldn’t be holding our TSA agents hostage while those negotiations continue. We should  vote tomorrow to pay them. And Democrats have put forward that legislation so far in both the House and Senate. Republicans continue to block it.”
• Rep. James Walkinshaw: “that’s exactly my  argument. Why does ICE need another $20, $30 billion on top of the money that they got from the so-called ‘big beautiful bill’ that came out of Americans’ health care. What we need to do is put some reasonable restrictions on ICE, so we can  end the masking, require judicial warrants before they can smash down the doors of American citizens. That’s all we’re asking for and why we negotiate around that and hopefully achieve that. We should be paying our TSA agents, our Coast Guard folks, our FEMA workers and all of that. And we put forward that legislation. Republicans keep blocking it. I don’t know why they’re blocking it, but they continue to block it.”
• Rep. James Walkinshaw: “My understanding is the White House put forward an offer. Democratic leaders have rejected that. The White House is considering sending over another offer. But look, I listened there to Secretary Duffy and what he’s facing, what President Trump is facing in the next couple of weeks as we head into the spring break travel season. Americans are going to be staring down the face of $4 a gallon gas prices because of Donald Trump’s war in Iran. And 4-hour waits at TSA linesbecause of Donald Trump and the Republican shutdown. I think the president is going to start to feel a lot of pressure as we head into that spring break travel season. I hope that will help help…create a breakthrough for a deal.”
• Rep. James Walkinshaw: “What federal workers say to me – and this is DHS and across the board – is look, they have faced down 15 months of attacks and assaults from the Trump administration. Thousands of firings, retirement benefits not coming through when they’re supposed to come through, verbally assaulted by the OMB director and the president himself. So they have endured a lot of abuse on top of the shutdown. So they are frustrated and fed up, no question. But they understand that at the end of the day, Donald Trump and Republicans have been shutting down DHS and other agencies for 15 months. This shutdown makes it worse, and we need to bring it to an end. But it’s been 15 months of frustration and abuse that they’ve endured on top of the shutdowns.”