WATCH: Sen. Schiff Slams Republicans for Blocking Bill to Reopen FEMA, Hails Bipartisan Work to Address Housing Costs on MS NOW

Schiff: "They've spent $11 billion on this war already. And that's dozens of hospitals we could have built in America. It is lots of affordable housing we could have built in America. It's increasing the cost of everything from fuel at the pump and food at the grocery store."

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MS NOW's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell to call out Senate Republicans for blocking his and Senator Alex Padilla's (D-Calif.) bill to reopen Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He emphasized the need to fund critical homeland security agencies - like TSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Coast Guard - without also including more money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) while negotiations are ongoing to put guardrails on the agencies.

Schiff also continued to highlight how President Trump's Iran War is increasing prices for Americans, especially while the president dismisses congressional action this week to lower housing costs and improve access to affordable housing.

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:

On the Republican stonewalling on reopening key federal agencies like FEMA and TSA:

"They say no. They say until we get more money for ICE and more money for border patrol, we're not going to reopen TSA. We're not going to reopen FEMA. We had another motion today that Alex Padilla and I offered to reopen FEMA. Let's continue to hammer out serious reforms of ICE and border patrol, but let's not make the public suffer by not funding this disaster relief agency or TSA or the Coast Guard. But no, their response is, we're not going to do anything until we get more money for ICE. And we're not about to go along with the reforms that you're seeking."

[…] Let's fund TSA while we work on everything else. And they said, "No, not without funding ICE and border patrol. They're not willing to fund TSA. I think it's unsustainable. They're losing this argument. They've lost the argument over ICE and over border patrol. People have seen the terrible damage that's been done in our streets and the mayhem, the chaos, the bloodshed. They want changes and what we're demanding is, frankly, just the same standards we hold our local police department to. We don't want people wearing masks. We don't want people indiscriminately grabbing people off the street because of how they look, or the language they speak or where they work. We want them to not use excessive force, and when there is excessive force used, we want an independent investigation. This is not too much to ask, but apparently, for the Republicans it is, and they're willing to keep TSA unfunded. They're willing to make all those agents work without pay until they can get more money for those agencies.

One the passage of landmark housing legislation in the Senate:

[…] Thune understands that he's got members who are deeply at risk. A year ago, it's hard to see how Democrats could flip the Senate. Now, it is very easy to see the pathway to do that. He sees it as well as we do. And Donald Trump can say what Donald Trump wants to say, but Thune's obligation is to his members. And so, we had this big vote on a meaningful housing bill.

[…] I hear this all the time in California, of all the affordability issues, the inability to afford rent or your mortgage or, you know, acquire a new home if you're a first time home buyer. This is at the top of people's concerns, as well as the epidemic of homelessness.And you have the president saying people don't give a whatever about that. That's the kind of thing you say, if you're spending a lot of your time building a ballroom, tearing down parts of the White House to build a ballroom, or you're spending all your time at Mar a Lago. And you don't know that people don't actually all live at a place like Mar a Lago, or you're out there on the golf course. He is literally spending more time on his ballroom than he is trying to figure out how to help people afford housing, because he doesn't give a rat's ass about housing. He doesn't expect anyone else to do so. And but nevertheless, I think the Republicans as well as Democrats, understand affordability is not a hoax, and the longer they go without addressing this, the worse their prospects are going to be in November.

This bill, while it passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, is in trouble in the House. Mike Johnson and his right-wing faction are still going to fight this bill. Many of them have adopted Trump's credo that, until we can disenfranchise people, we're not going to build new housing. So, there's no guarantee this bill passes, but I certainly hope that it does. It is such a pressing need, but I think you're right. I think we're going to see more defiance of Trump the closer we get to November.

On the rising costs of the Iran War:

[…] What we got from the Pentagon was they've spent 11 billion on this war already. And that's dozens of hospitals we could have built in America. It is lots of affordable housing we could have built in America. It's increasing the cost of everything from fuel at the pump and food at the grocery store. The opportunity costs are huge, and the American people understand that, and Trump's own base didn't want this. He campaigned on putting an end to these endless wars. So, it is very difficult for them to explain.

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