Union applauds DHS funding deal

The union that represents Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers applauded lawmakers for approving to bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the remainder of fiscal 2015 on Tuesday.

“After taking us to the brink of a shutdown, lawmakers finally have seen the light of day and approved a funding bill that will ensure operations at the Department of Homeland Security will continue uninterrupted through the rest of the fiscal year,” American Federation of Government Employees President J. David Cox said in a statement.

“DHS employees safeguard our borders, skies, waterways, public buildings, and communities,” Cox continued. “It’s unfortunate that the 230,000 federal employees who work at this vital department had to face the prospect of not going to work, or working and not getting paid, due to a manufactured crisis that was completely avoidable.”

{mosads}The appropriations bill for the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the TSA, was approved by the House on Tuesday after a lengthy standoff between Republicans and Democrats over the nation’s immigration policy.

Republicans had sought to attach language to the Homeland Security Department’s funding measure undo President Obama’s late 2014 executive action that granted a path to U.S. citizenship for millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally if they met conditions set by the administration.

Democrats balked at the inclusion of the anti-immigration language in the Homeland Security Department’s funding bill, leading to a stalemate that almost resulted in a shutdown of the agency last week.

Lawmakers approved a weeklong extension of the Homeland Security Department’s funding on Friday afternoon after a longer three-month extension was voted down by the Republican-led late in the deadline day.

The standoff came to conclusion on Tuesday with the House’s vote on a “clean” DHS funding extension, which was approved with mostly Democratic votes. President Obama is expected to sign the Homeland Security Department funding measure, which was already approved by the Senate.