A Republican-aligned group is spending $400,000 on ads accusing conservatives who opposed a bill to keep the Department of Homeland Security up and running last week of putting national security at risk.
The American Action Network’s move counters a push by House conservatives to reject anything that doesn’t also unravel President Barack Obama’s immigration executive actions — further elevating an internal squabble that has so far played out on Capitol Hill, and giving House Speaker John Boehner cover on his right flank.
The group is targeting three conservative hard-liners — Reps. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma — with 30-second spots that feature terrorists with guns, as ominous music plays and the narrator warns of the impact of a DHS shutdown.
Jordan is the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, while Huelskamp has long criticized Boehner’s tactics and Bridenstine opposed the one-week DHS funding measure that ultimately passed.
It’s also airing radio ads this week on the shows of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with telephone operators placing calls into 50 more congressional districts and online ads targeting nine more Republican members of Congress.
“It’s important that Congress funds national security programs that keep America safe,” said American Action Network’s President Mike Shields. “Conservatives nationwide support keeping Homeland Security open and funding programs like enhanced cyber-security and fully enforcing the U.S.-Mexico border. It’s important voters hear the facts about Homeland Security and call Congress to support crucial national security funding.”