How Homeland Security Plans To Watch Over The Land Without Funds Had Congress Not Passed One-Week Funding
Vittorio Hernandez | | Feb 28, 2015 05:00 AM EST |
(Photo : Reuters) An airline passenger is patted down by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent after passing through a full-body scanner at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California February 20, 2014. U.S. authorities issued a warning on Wednesday to airlines flying to the United States to watch out for militants who may have hidden bombs in their shoes, U.S. government sources said.
One a vote of 357-60, the U.S. Congress approved a one week extension of funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday just hours before the midnight deadline.
The bill is now with U.S. President Barack Obama for his signature. The last-minute approval by legislators temporarily averts a shutdown of the DHS operations which could place national security against terrorism at stake.
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However, it's just a one-week relief as the nation braces for another funding battle next week as the GOP uses its majority status to stop the president's executive action on immigration reform which affects DHS funding.
The one-week funding bill is a slap on the face of House Speaker John Boehner after 42 GOP members and almost all Democrats voted against the three-week extension of DHS funding with a vote of 203-224. Republicans thought the bill was a cave in to the White House, while Democrats found it a temporary solution and used their vote not to bail out Boehner in meeting the midnight deadline, reports NBC.
But Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi later on Friday night asked the House Democrats to support the one-week DHS funding bill. She added the party would have a chance to back a one-year clean funding bill next week.
The Senate passed also on Friday a full-year funding on a vote of 63-31.
Had the one-week funding not been passed, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said 80 percent of the DHS employees would still be mandated to go to work but won't be paid until Congress approves the agency's funding caught in the tug-of-war between Obama and the GOP over immigration reforms.
The 46-page document provides specific details on which functions would be kept. The 80 percent set by Johnson translates into about 194,000 personnel out of the 225,000 DHS workers. The 20 percent who would be on furlough are those in research and development, auditing and training roles.
But they would still be required to work for four hours on the first day of a shutdown to secure classified documents.
TagsDepartment of Homeland Security, Immigration Reform, Barack Obama, DHS shutdown
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