The partial government
shutdown that began back in February is finally coming to an end, which is good
news for travelers nationwide.
The House of
Representatives voted Thursday to fund most of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), according to CNBC.
That includes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), meaning things
at airport security should start getting back to normal.
Being considered
essential workers, TSA agents have been forced to perform their duties without
receiving a paycheck during the 70-day partial shutdown. But, rather than work
without pay, many of them called out sick or quit their jobs altogether,
leading to long lines and frustrating waits at airport security checkpoints.
With funding finally back in place, those issues should soon be resolved.
The House vote to
approve agency funding comes more than a month after the Senate unanimously passed
the exact same bill. It was held up due to House Republicans’ opposition to the
plan, which gave way after the White House cautioned that emergency DHS funding
would run out before the end of the week.
“Speaker Johnson
extended the DHS shutdown for over a month for no reason at all. This is the
same bill the Senate unanimously passed five weeks ago,” Senate Appropriations
Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement.
The Travel
Industry Reacts
Geoff Freeman,
president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, issued a statement on the DHS
funding approval:
“We thank the
House of Representatives for taking the final step to end the longest
Department of Homeland Security shutdown in history.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
What About the
Rest of DHS?
The bill keeps
most of DHS running, but it doesn’t cover subagencies such as Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and parts of Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
responsible for immigration enforcement.
Lawmakers are
trying to sort that out separately through something called budget
reconciliation, which basically lets them pass certain funding measures with
fewer Senate votes than are often needed to overcome a filibuster (50 versus
60).
The House moved
forward with the initial step of the budget reconciliation process late
Wednesday, and lawmakers are now aiming to wrap it up completely by June 1, a
deadline they set themselves to push through GOP immigration priorities backed
by President Donald Trump.
“To finish the
job, Senate and House Republicans must pass the reconciliation bill that fully
funds ICE and Border Patrol through the rest of President Trump’s term,” chair
of the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted to X
on Thursday.
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