TSA: Agents ‘deserve more than an IOU’

by Keith Laing - 02/25/15 6:26 PM ET

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Wednesday its workers “deserve more than an IOU” as debate in Congress over federal homeland security funding remains at a standstill.

{mosads}Lawmakers are embroiled in a fight about federal funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees TSA, that has become entangled in a standoff about U.S. immigration policy.

DHS’s funding is scheduled to expire Friday night unless Congress reaches an agreement on an extension.

Acting TSA Administrator Melvin Carraway said Wednesday that the uncertainty is unfair to the agency’s workforce, who are responsible for securing the nation’s airports.

“If by the end of the week the Department of Homeland Security does not receive funding, the Department shuts down,” Carraway wrote in a blog post on the TSA’s website.

“A shutdown for the Transportation Security Administration means that most of our employees would still continue to come to work, without receiving a paycheck for that work until the shutdown ends,” he continued.

Carraway said it was unfair to expect TSA workers to wait for a potential reimbursement of pay they would miss during a partial shutdown if Congress negotiations about Homeland Security funding extend beyond Friday.

“The vast majority of TSA personnel — including frontline operational and support personnel — rely on biweekly paychecks to support themselves and their families,” he wrote. “If DHS does not receive funding, these employees would not receive biweekly paychecks for their work during the shutdown until Congress acts. They deserve better than the proposition of coming to work every day on an IOU.”

The DHS funding was exempted from a measure that extended most other federal agency’s appropriations until September. Congress passed that plan late last year after President Obama issued an executive order making changes to the nation’s immigration rules.

Republicans accused Obama of acting unconstitutionally, and they have sought to use DHS funding as an opportunity to extract concessions from the president on immigration.

Democrats have defended the legality of Obama’s immigration actions and called for GOP leaders to approve a “clean” Homeland Security bill.

Caaraway said TSA workers would be affected harshly by a potential shutdown of the agency.

“As a counterterrorism organization, our dedicated and professional workforce will — in the event of a shutdown — continue to secure our nation’s transportation systems, without pay, just as they did during the government shutdown of 2013,” he wrote. “Over ninety percent of our workforce — that’s about 50,000 employees — would continue to report to duty.

“Yes, critical operations would continue, but the support for those operations would cease,” Carraway added. “Approximately 6 percent of the TSA workforce would be furloughed. Hiring would cease. Required training would cease. Travel associated with routine planned security inspections would cease. Deployment of security technology equipment would potentially be delayed.”

Tags DHS Homeland security Melvin Carraway TSA