The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is entering its 5th week, leading hundreds of Transportation Security Administration agents to quit their jobs. Lawmakers remain divided over how to move DHS funding forward, with Democrats insisting on changes to ICE policy.
NTD’s Melina Wisecup reports. -- 📺 Watch NTD News 24/7 on cable, broadcast, and streaming: https://www.ntd.com/watch
The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security enters its fifth week,
leading hundreds of TSA agents to quit their jobs.
Lawmakers remain divided over how to move DHS funding forward,
with Democrats insisting on changes to ICE policy.
NTD's Melina Wisecup reports.
Essential airport personnel are making for the exit after being forced to work without pay.
This is a much tougher shutdown than what we had back in the fall.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says about 300 TSA agents have quit their jobs.
Those who are staying on the job are calling out of work at a rate double than normal,
causing some travelers to wait more than three hours or longer at busy airports.
50,000 TSA agents have already missed a partial payment and a full payment.
The fact is they can't afford it.
Most TSA workers, as most Americans, are living paycheck to paycheck.
So to be going through this again so close to
the last shutdown is detrimental to a lot of officers.
The gridlock in Congress continues.
Senators failing to approve funding for the DHS before leaving Washington last Thursday.
Democrats are insisting on changes to how ICE operates.
I will not approve another dollar for ICE, given all that they're doing.
But we should be funding those TSA agents that keep us safe.
Democrats tried to separate TSA funding from the broader DHS bill,
a move that would likely prolong the DHS shutdown.
Republicans reject the idea, saying it would create a dangerous precedent.
Republicans also saying there haven't been any attempts at good faith negotiations.
It's disingenuous.
Here they are telling you they want to see reforms.
But I am here to tell you that they have not come to the table.
Despite countless offers to sit down and try to find a pathway forward,
they will not even have a conversation with us.
CEOs from major airlines sent a letter to Congress on Sunday,
emphasizing that it is simply unacceptable to expect TSA officers to work without pay.
The CEOs wrote, once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown.
Powers to be have the ability to correct this tomorrow.
People should make the right decision.
You see what's going on in the country.
You see what's going on in the world.
We're not immune.
The CEOs are urging lawmakers to immediately solve the issue and make sure it never happens again.
Senators will return to Washington today amid the stalemate.
Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News.
