Border czar Tom Homan declared that Democrats “shut down DHS” during a heated exchange on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Sunday, as host Margaret Brennan questioned why the Trump administration has not compelled Congress to return and resolve the funding standoff.

“Look, I hope so. I mean, they got to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” Homan said, warning the U.S. is in “an increased threat posture right now because of what’s going on in the world.”

The remarks came as the Department of Homeland Security remains partially shut down for more than a month, with Congress out of session for a two-week recess and tens of thousands of employees missing paychecks.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL

The tense dispute centered on disagreements over immigration enforcement policy, particularly the role and authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Brennen pressed Homan on whether President Donald Trump would force lawmakers to return early, noting that Republicans control both chambers of Congress.

“But Republicans control both chambers. This is the president’s party,” Brennan said.

Homan rejected that framing, placing blame squarely on Democrats.

HOMAN FIRES BACK AT BOOKER AFTER SENATOR VOICES ‘OUTRAGE’ OVER ICE AIRPORT DEPLOYMENTS

“The Democrats shut down DHS. They voted to shut down DHS because they simply won’t fund DHS, because they want to change ICE policies so ICE is less effective in the interior,” Homan said.

Brennen pointed out that a bipartisan Senate bill to fund DHS had passed but was rejected by House leadership, prompting her to ask why the White House could not unify the GOP.

“This isn’t a White House issue. This is Democrats shutting down the Department of Homeland Security,” Homan responded, adding that he has met with lawmakers “from both sides.”

JOHNSON ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF TAKING GOVERNMENT HOSTAGE OVER ‘CRAZY’ IMMIGRATION AGENDA

When asked directly whether he supported the Senate bill, Homan avoided a direct endorsement.

“I support Congress opening up the entire government, the entire DHS, and not holding people in DHS hostage because they don’t like immigration enforcement,” Homan continued. “I support the President of the United States in getting DHS fully funded and operating.”

Homan also addressed operational impacts of the shutdown, including staffing shortages at airports. He said the administration has taken steps to mitigate disruptions, including deploying ICE agents to assist TSA operations.

“I’m hoping with this change that President Trump put in place… that more will come back to work,” Homan said, referring to efforts to restore pay for TSA officers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Homan acknowledged the strain on airport operations during the shutdown, noting that hundreds of TSA employees had left their posts as pay disruptions dragged on, forcing federal agencies to adjust staffing to keep security lines moving.

“We’ll keep more ICE agents there… we’ll be there as long as they need us until they get back to normal operations,” Homan said.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s vast missile system is the brainchild of the U.S.-designated state-sponsor of terrorism, the communist North Korea regime, which works hand in glove with Iran, according to one of the world’s leading experts on the Iran-North Korea strategic alliance.

“The missile launched at Diego Garcia was a Musudan. The Iranians bought 19 of these from the North Koreans and took delivery in 2005. They have had this capability since 2005 — and this is no ‘secret weapon,”’ Bruce Bechtol, who co-authored with Anthony Celso the groundbreaking book “Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership Between Iran and North Korea,” told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reported last week that Iran significantly escalated its war effort against the U.S. with its launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia—roughly 2,500 miles from Iran.

TRUMP PROVEN RIGHT ON IRAN’S LONG-RANGE MISSILE CAPABILITY AS REGIME TARGETS US-UK BASE, EXPERTS SAY

Bechtol said, “The most important threat from Iran as the war with the United States and Israel has evolved has been the ballistic missiles, launched not only at U.S. facilities and Israeli cities, but also at neighboring Islamic countries. Thus, it is important to consider this capability and where Iran got it.”

He said, “The short-range ballistic missiles that Iran has launched at key U.S. facilities and at neighboring Arab states include a key system – the “QIAM.”  The QIAM was developed and improved with North Korean assistance… North Korea has proliferated a lot to Iran that we are seeing right now in the war.”

The joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran’s regime, the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, according to the U.S. State Department, has entered its fifth week of combat.

Bechtol, who is a professor of political science in the Department of Security Studies at Angelo State University in Texas, noted that, according to the Wisconsin Project, North Korea had constructed a large missile test facility at Emamshahr, a city in the Fars Province in Iran, and a tracking facility at Tabas in South Khorasan province.

He said that North Korea aided Iran with crucial technology “for targets farther away from Iran.”

“The North Koreans proliferated around 150 No Dong systems to Iran in the late 1990s. The Iranians were apparently very happy with the missiles the North Koreans provided them, and, following the earlier precedent of the Scud C factory, contracted with Pyongyang to build a No Dong facility in Iran.”

AFTER THE STRIKES, HOW WOULD THE US SECURE IRAN’S ENRICHED URANIUM?

Bechtol continued, “The Iranians called this “new” missile the Shahab-3. The Shahab-3 is almost an exact copy of the No Dong. Once the Shahab-3 was up and running, the North Koreans moved forward with the Iranians in improving its range and lethality.”

He said, “With assistance from the North Koreans, the Iranians were then able to produce (at the No Dong facility) the Emad and the Ghadr. The Emad has a range of 1,750 kilometers (approx 1,087 miles) and the Ghadr has a range of 1,950 kilometers (approximately 1,212 miles.) The Iranians have used these two systems to target not only Israel, but their Arab neighbors (including U.S. bases located in these countries) throughout the ongoing first stages of this conflict.”

Bechtol said that the North Koreans spawned an Iranian missile warhead that weighs a ton and a half to two tons on the powerful Khorramshahr-4. “There is another system capable of hitting Israel that has been even more lethal than any of the systems described thus far. This system is called the ‘Khorramshahr,’ and the fourth version of this system, appropriately called the ‘Khorramshahr-4,’ has been proven to carry a warhead larger than any other in Iran’s missile inventory, armed with what appears to be cluster munitions,” he said.

He described the strategic partnership, noting: “North Korea is the seller and Iran is the buyer. North Korea proliferates weapons systems, technology, parts and components, technicians, engineers and specialists and military capabilities (such as the building of underground facilities) to Iran. Iran pays North Korea with cash and oil. Simple as that.”

Bechtol said the only way to stop this is through sanctions enforcement against North Korea. “The sanctions that are needed are already on the books. But the USA and our key allies need to robustly enforce them. We need to go after banks, front companies and cyber entities in order to squeeze the money and contain or destroy the supply chain.”

He said, “More emphasis needs to be placed, and more action needs to be taken using the Proliferation Security Initiative — an underused aspect of preventing North Korea’s arms from flowing to rogue nations and terrorist groups.  If you cut off the supply chain, you cut off the proliferation.”

Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 800-meter race, blasted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over a new policy to ensure fairness for females competing at the highest level of sports.

Semenya, who has disorders of sex development (DSD), has testosterone levels higher than a typical female range and has launched legal challenges in order to compete in the women’s category. Semenya said she expected more from IOC President Kirsty Coventry.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“Personally, for her as a leader, she’s an African, I’m sure she understands how, you know, we as Africans, we are coming from, as a global South, you know, you cannot control genetics,” Semenya said Thursday. “For me personally, for her being a woman coming from Africa, knowing how, you know, African women or women in the global South are affected by that.”

The IOC said it would employ genetic testing to verify the biological sex of competitors in women’s events. The IOC said that eligibility for events in the women’s category is “now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one-time SRY gene screening.”

“Evidence‑based and expert‑informed, the policy – applicable for the LA28 Olympic Games onwards – protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” according to the organization.

“Obviously if you say the science, because we talk about science here, if the science is clear, show us who decided and don’t dress that as a lie because it’s a lie and we know because we’ve seen it so if we were to answer or confront Kirsty that’s how we gonna respond and we’ll respond strong as we are because it affects women,” Semenya said.

AMERICAN OLYMPIAN, WHO IDENTIFIES AS TRANSGENDER NONBINARY, SLAMS IOC’S NEW POLICY TO PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS

Semenya won Olympic gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games but is banned from competing in certain international meets like the Olympics and world championships since she refused to follow the rules and take medication to reduce her hormone levels.

“For me personally, I’ll say the voice is not heard because you taking it as a tick box, you ticking a box so you can go clarify or say yes we’ve consulted,” she said. “For me, it’s you ticking the box.”

The IOC said it came to the decision to implement the policy after consulting with a panel of experts, with the goal of providing equal opportunity for women in sport.

“The policy was developed on the basis that it is universally accepted that providing for a female category is necessary to allow both males and females equal access to elite sport,” the IOC said in an announcement.

“It was guided by the IOC’s modern goals relating to equality (equal opportunities for female athletes in finals, on podiums and in championships); enhancing Olympic value (featuring both women’s and men’s finals in every sport); and visibility and inspiration (celebrating female athletes on the Olympic podium to inspire and represent women and girls worldwide).”

Coventry suggested that the continued enabling of males in women’s sports is “not safe” in the announcement.

“As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition. The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts. At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” she said.

“So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.