After warnings from the White House that Transportation Security
Administration workers and other Department of Homeland Security employees were
once again at risk of going unpaid should Congress fail to pass a funding bill,
the House of Representatives on Thursday took up and passed languishing legislation
first handed to them by the Senate on March 27.
The move came as Congress is scheduled for a 12-day break
during which time funds that were released by the Trump Administration earlier
this month to pay TSA workers were sure to run out. The situation would have
left the federal employees charged with the safety of U.S. air travel unpaid
for the third time in six months, threatening to put airports, airlines and air
travelers back into a tailspin in terms of security check wait times, which at
some airports stretched
to four hours at their worst point in late March as TSA workers stopped
coming to work or quit to find other employment.
The political showdown over DHS was never about TSA workers,
however; compromised public safety operations at airports was collateral damage
in the wake of a bitter feud between Republicans and Democrats over funding the
activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement forces that also fall under
the purview of DHS. ICE has taken a high profile in the Trump Administration,
charged with executing the president’s controversial deportation campaigns and
occupations of certain U.S. cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis—the
latter of which became a political flashpoint for the administration, after the
shooting deaths of two American citizens this winter by ICE agents.
A Senate bill passed on March 27 went to the House of
Representatives which declined to pass it before Congress was scheduled for a
two-week break. The Senate bill provided funding for TSA and other DHS
operations, but left funding for ICE operations unfulfilled. House Republicans
balked at that option and the legislation stalled throughout April. The bill passed on Thursday, largely
unchanged from the Senate version that sat with the House for more than 30 days. Funding
for ICE and parts of Customs and Border Protection still will need to be provided through a referendum process that will
be shielded from Democrats.
The travel industry has been incensed by the fact that funding
for its operations and safety processes continue to be subject to political
hostage-taking, and they are lobbying for clear legislation that would protect
critical TSA workers from getting their paychecks zeroed out during future government
shutdowns.
“While the bill passed today restores funding certainty for
much of DHS, there are no real winners in a shutdown. More than 1,100 TSA
officers have already left the workforce, morale has been undermined, and with
just weeks until the World Cup, our preparedness has taken a step backward. We
emerge from this disruption weaker, not stronger,” said U.S. Travel Association
CEO Geoff Freeman in a statement.
“Over the past seven months, it has become clear that some
in Congress are increasingly willing to use government shutdowns to advance
political goals. That approach carries real consequences for our national
security and the traveling public,” he added. “Congress must ensure that TSA
officers and air traffic controllers are never again treated as political
footballs. Lawmakers should act to guarantee that these critical workers are
paid during any future shutdown.”
United Airlines also weighed in on the issue, thanking TSA
workers for their perseverance in the face of wage uncertainty and chastising
the government for allowing it to continue.
“Congress needs to stop the cycle of uncertainty,” the
airline’s statement began. “We call on lawmakers to pass bipartisan legislation
that guarantees federal aviation workers are paid during any future shutdowns.
Safety and security aren't optional, and the paychecks of those who provide
them shouldn't be either.”
The American Hotel & Lodging Association pointed out
that the impact on travel of the DHS shutdown extended farther than the
airport.
“It led to canceled trips and fewer hotel guests, and cut
into the livelihoods of the nearly nine million Americans whose jobs depend on
a functioning travel economy,” said AHLA president and CEO Rosanna Maietta. “A
functioning government is essential to a strong travel economy. Congress must
ensure this is the last time this critical industry is treated as collateral
damage in a political standoff.”
The current funding bill is good only through September 30.