The possible shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security threatens the Obama administration's efforts to counter the extremist appeal of the Islamic State group within the US and to respond with emergency aid to communities struggling with winter snowstorms, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson warned today.
Funding for the department's USD 40 billion budget ends on Friday, and no solution is in sight for Congress to take action by then. The fight is over President Barack Obama's immigration plan.
A House-passed bill would fund the department through Sept 30 and overturn Obama's move to limit deportations for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally. But the Senate is stalemated.
In a round of appearances on network news programs, Johnson said that if Congress fails to agree on a new budget for his department by Friday's end, lawmakers' inaction would lead to staff furloughs that could hamstring the US response to terrorist threats and warnings, such as the one late yesterday that mentions the Mall of America in Minnesota.
He said that up to 30,000 DHS workers would have to be furloughed, including up to 80 per cent of Federal Emergency Management Agency workers even as that agency contends with two months of devastating snowfalls and cold from New England in the northeast to the Mountain States in the west.
Most DHS employees would continue to work but without pay to provide such essential services such as airport security and border and customs enforcement.
"It's absurd that we're even having this conversation about Congress' inability to fund Homeland Security in these challenging times," Johnson said.
After a week's break, Congress returns to work tomorrow. Lawmakers have until the end of the week to approve the DHS budget and avoid shutting down the department.
A House-passed bill would cover the department through Sept 30 and overturn Obama's executive action to limit deportations for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally. But Senate Democrats are preventing a vote on a similar, Senate measure.
"The House has acted to fund the Homeland Security Department," Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said in an email today. "Now it's time for Senate Democrats to stop blocking legislation that would do the same.
