EXCLUSIVE: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is warning Democrats not to play politics with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) funding, particularly as the country is on high alert for any fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

"Put the safety and security of the American people first and stop playing political games to appease the far-left base, especially at a time like this," Scalise said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ongoing partial government shutdown centered on DHS, now in its 18th day, has taken on new significance in the wake of President Donald Trump's military action in Iran.

Bipartisan deals have funded 97% of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, but divisions between Democrats and Republicans over Trump's immigration crackdown have prevented any such compromise on DHS.

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House GOP leaders announced over the weekend that the chamber would vote this Thursday on a bipartisan DHS funding bill that passed in January in a bid to pressure Democrats to end the shutdown. 

That bill failed to advance in the Senate multiple times, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement that Republicans have deemed nonstarters.

"We are on a higher level of alert, and this is not the time for Democrats to be playing games and shutting down the department that is focused on keeping Americans safe here at home," Scalise said. "So we're bringing this bill back up again to try to get them to come to their senses and open the Department of Homeland Security."

The bill passed in a 220-207 vote in late January, with just seven Democrats crossing the aisle in support. All but one House Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted in favor.

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However, Scalise said "any responsible member of Congress" should vote for the legislation this time.

"The country is watching and expects members of Congress to take the safety of the American people at heart. And so I hope we get a much larger vote this time," he said.

DHS is a wide-ranging department that was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

While it's most recently grabbed headlines for actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), DHS is also responsible for a variety of national security-focused offices like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Scalise pointed out that it's also critical to keeping the U.S. safe during global events being hosted within its borders.

"We had a hearing last week on the World Cup, the people in charge of security for the World Cup were saying that they may have to start canceling some events," he said. "And that was before Iran."

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon remains defiant against President Donald Trump's multibillion-dollar lawsuit but concedes he's sympathetic to Trump's grievance with the bank.

During a Monday appearance on CNBC, Dimon was asked about the ongoing legal battle.

"I don't like debanking," Dimon said. "And we debank people because of legal and regulatory risks for us."

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"We don't do it generally for political or religious reasons — for other reasons," he continued. "You don't make a lot of money in bank accounts, so it's much easier for banks to say, 'I'm not taking the risk, let them go bank elsewhere.'"

After insisting the government "knows much more than we know," Dimon acknowledged he's "sympathetic" towards Trump.

"I respect the president’s right to sue the company. You know, we respect our right to defend ourselves. That’s why you have courts," Dimon said. "This case has no merit. It’s going to have, you know, years of discovery type of thing. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But I agree with him. They have the right to be angry. I’d be angry too. Like, why is a bank allowed to do that? You know, but they’re forced to do it. You know, remember Operation Choke Point and, you know, and the punishment that banks go through when they, you know, miss something or, you know, coulda, woulda, shoulda. It’s all in hindsight, you know?"

JPMORGAN ADMITS CLOSING TRUMP ACCOUNTS AFTER JAN 6 CAPITOL RIOT AS $5B LAWSUIT ALLEGES POLITICAL ‘DEBANKING’

A spokesperson for Trump's legal team told Fox News Digital, "By their own admission, JPMorgan Chase, at the direction of CEO Jamie Dimon, unlawfully debanked and blacklisted President Trump, his family and several of his businesses, causing overwhelming financial and reputational harm. The defendants committed these tortious acts only because of the President’s America First policies, which have saved our Nation. President Trump is standing up for all those wrongly debanked by JPMorgan Chase and their cohorts, and will see this case to a just and proper conclusion."

In January, Trump filed a whopping $5 billion lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase of debanking him for political reasons in 2021.

Trump’s lawyer said Feb. 19, 2021, was the day that "forever altered the dynamic of the parties’ relationship," when the bank, allegedly "without warning or provocation," notified Trump and his entities that several bank accounts they controlled, were beneficiaries of, and actively used to transact "would be closed just two months later, on April 19, 2021."

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Trump had been a customer of JPMorgan for decades, and he and his affiliated entities "have transacted hundreds of millions of dollars" through JPMorgan Chase, according to the lawsuit. The president accused JPMorgan Chase of debanking him in response to the events of Jan. 6.

JPMorgan Chase confirmed in a court filing last month that accounts associated with Trump and his companies were closed in Feb. 2021. 

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.