The U.S. Senate failed today to advance the House-passed bill funding the Department of Homeland Security through September 30. At the U.S. Capitol, MAGA-aligned Eric Schmitt (R-MO) voiced his objection (the vote failed 52-47) and disparaged Democrats.
Schmitt said: “As we speak Democrats are setting out on a taxpayer funded European trip to sip wine with global elites and bad mouth America. But first they made sure to defund DHS. This is nuts.”
He said it was hypocritical of the lawmakers to travel on taxpayer’s money while “defunding the paycheck of TSA agent who makes $40,000 a year,” and described the hypocrisy as “insane.”
The trip Schmitt referred to is the annual Munich Security Conference. President Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, will also travel on taxpayer’s money to attend the conference, and speak on Saturday. Last year, Vice President JD Vance delivered a speech at the conference that, according to The New York Times, “started an unraveling of trans-Atlantic relations.”
Eric I was there with you last year! It continues to be an important bipartisan trip. This is an odd tweet. https://t.co/tetrEXnSzq
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) February 13, 2026
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) fired back at Schmitt: “Eric I was there with you last year! It continues to be an important bipartisan trip. This is an odd tweet.”
Political scientist Michael D. Swaine, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also replied to Schmitt’s comments: “This guy is amazingly sycophantic, even for a Trump sycophant. No, Dems are not going to bad mouth America. They will bad mouth Trump, who is not America.”
Note: Approximately 50 U.S. lawmakers were scheduled to attend including Senator Lindsey Graham (R-CA) who’s leading a bipartisan convoy of 11 senators, along with Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), among others.