What to Know About How the DHS Shutdown Could Affect You

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security has expired, potentially jeopardizing critical government services like airport security and disaster relief.

Appropriations for the 9/11-era Cabinet agency lapsed after Friday, Feb. 13, as negotiations continued between congressional Democrats and the White House over curbing immigration enforcement. No deal was in sight as lawmakers left for a weeklong scheduled recess, with many taking planned trips overseas.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, pledged earlier this week that Democrats wouldn’t back funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement without added guardrails for federal immigration agents.

“The Republican bill on the floor allows ICE to smash in doors without warrants, to wear masks and not be identified, to use children as bait for their parents,” Schumer said in a video statement posted on social media Feb. 12. “No oversight? We are keeping our word. No funding for ICE until it is reined in, until the violence ends.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said on Fox News Feb. 12 that he hopes Democrats strike a funding deal with the White House over the weekend.

“This isn’t just ICE. This isn’t just, you know, Border Patrol. This is FEMA. This is TSA. This is the Coast Guard. This is cybersecurity. A bunch of things covered by this bill,” Thune said.

Much of Homeland Security’s typical work, including ICE operations, will continue even while the agency is shut down. Regardless, the heads of some of the department’s most critical divisions warned lawmakers ahead of the latest funding lapse that the consequences of a prolonged shutdown could be dire.

TSA

DHS hasn’t publicly released an updated contingency plan for this shutdown, but it typically requires the vast majority of TSA’s more than 64,000-person workforce to stay on the job without pay.

Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told lawmakers Feb. 11 that the roughly 61,000 employees at more than 430 commercial airports who will be impacted by another funding lapse can’t go through it all over again.

“Some are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown,” she said. “We cannot put them through another such experience. It would be unconscionable.”

Usually, as shutdowns drag on, callout rates for TSA workers spike, leading to longer wait times in security lines at the airport.

Coast Guard

The Coast Guard, which falls under DHS purview during peacetime, will have to suspend missions that aren’t critical for national security and the protection of life and property.

“Shutdowns cripple morale,” said Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, the Coast Guard’s acting vice commandant, at a Feb. 11 congressional hearing.

Allan told lawmakers the shutdown would cause deferred maintenance and potentially interrupt pay for 56,000 active-duty reserve and civilian personnel.

FEMA

Most employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also work without pay. Gregg Phillips, who leads FEMA, said on Feb. 11 the shutdown would “severely disrupt” the agency’s ability to reimburse states for disaster relief costs.

He expressed concern about the approaching hurricane season.

“A federal government shutdown would have far-reaching and serious consequences for FEMA’s operations and for the nation’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters,” he told lawmakers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about how the DHS shutdown could affect you

Reporting by Zachary Schermele and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect