By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
WASHINGTON D.C. – A press release from the White House last week reported Homeland Security had been shut down since Feb. 14 with more than 100,000 DHS employees including the 60,000 TSA workers continuing to work without a paycheck.
Due to the ongoing government shutdowns, there have been massive resignations and callouts, which travelers are feeling now at certain airports around the country with many hours of waiting in security lines.
In other cases, one traveler told me she arrived at Boston Logan incredibly early for her fight, as in five hours versus three to get through the security line there and it took her five minutes.
Travelers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said “I feel bad for the workers… They need to be paid!”
This is one of the airports that have seen the long lines snaking through the concourse after more than one-third of TSA called out last week.
The White House press release was putting the blame on Democrats, but in truth it is an overall government failure in which both sides should be ashamed to have allowed to happen.
Not only are the airports in some cities at a breaking point, but other critical DHS missions — including law enforcement operations, FEMA disaster response, cybersecurity protection, and other key functions — are also being strained by unpaid workers, limited resources, and dangerous staffing shortfalls.
Last week ICE was dispatched to 14 airports and while many people seemed concerned about the message, travelers seemed more upbeat than social media was originally describing.
One person said ICE kept the lines moving, were passing out water and holding traveler’s places in line if they had to go to the bathroom during the long wait.
Unfortunately, the United States cannot continue with band aid fixes and stubborn politicians who seem to have completely lost the plot.
Keep in mind too, the politicians are still getting paid even while DHS is not.
Louisiana’s Republican Senator John Kennedy attempted to get a resolution passed that would put the Senator’s checks on hold during a shutdown and they would be paid when the shutdown was over. There was then an objection by Hawaiian Democratic Senator Brian Schatz who then he fled the chambers.
This is the games our elected officials are playing at the expense of the American people.
Kennedy was shocked and said he could move to reconsider and blindside Schatz, but he felt Senator must be back in the room for the motion, so he could explain to the American people why he feels Senators should be paid but not DHS.
It was reported over the weekend President Donald Trump has stepped in and according to CNN said TSA workers will be paid regardless.
His promise was an executive order for TSA to be paid immediately.
“I hereby direct the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to use funds that have reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown consistent with applicable law,” Trump wrote.
Hours after this announcement, the Senate agreed to fund most of the department, that also included TSA, though not immigration and border patrol.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called that last measure “a joke” and said he would put forth his own spending bill to fund that agency for up to eight weeks. Trump also noted that in reference to his EO federal law should also be complied with and appropriations applied “only to the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided by law.”
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
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