Shutdown Puts U.S. at Risk: Former Homeland Security Officials

The partial government shutdown is putting the U.S. at risk of not being fully prepared to handle an emergency such as a major natural disaster or terrorist attack, former Obama administration officials said Jan. 24.

“We are letting our guard down,” Jeh Johnson, the former chief of the Department of Homeland Security, said during a panel discussion called by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Even if the shutdown were to end tomorrow, the damage to the long-term health of the nation’s emergency response system—including the harm to recruitment and training efforts—could take years to ...