Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson appeared on five talk shows on Sunday to vouch for Congress to extend funding to his department by a Saturday deadline and also respond to terror threats calling for attacks on US shopping malls.
The threat from Somalia-based militants, Al-Shabaab, specifically targeted the Mall of America in Minnesota, the largest mall in North America, and also pushed for attacks against malls in Britain and Canada.
"This latest statement from Al-Shabaab reflects the new phase we have evolved to in the global terrorist threat, in that you have groups such as al-Shabaab, ISIL publicly calling for independent actors in their homelands to carry out attacks," Johnson said to Gloria Borger, host of CNN's State of the Union.
He continued, "we're now at a stage where it is all the more important in our counterterrorism efforts that we have a hold of government approach." Johnson blamed the terrorist group's "effective use of the internet" as the inspiration to draw independent actors to their causes.
When asked how seriously he took this threat, Johnson responded, "I am very concerned about the serious potential threat of independent actors here in the United States." Johnson advised people who go to malls on Sunday to "be vigilant" and "to be particularly careful." The Secretary also addressed another important subject to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is that its funding will run out by the weekend unless Congress can approve a new budget this week.
Johnson stressed to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on This Week, "it's imperative that we get it resolved, because if we don't by Friday at Midnight, homeland security - the homeland security budget for this nation basically evaporates." He cited that after spending a lot of time lobbying Capitol Hill Democrats and Republicans he found that each branch of the legislative body with blaming the other side for the lack of momentum.
"It's regrettable that we're even having this conversation. Given everything that is going on right now with the global terrorist threat, the harsh winter that we're facing in the South and in the Northeast, everything happening with cyber-security," Johnson asserted to Bob Scheiffer on CBS' Face the Nation.
If funding is not approved it will also furlough 30,000 federal employees.