SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The U.S. House passed a bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, ending a record-breaking 76-day partial government shutdown and putting thousands of federal workers back on a consistent payroll.
Most of DHS is now back open, meaning TSA officers will be funded at least through September. However, ICE and Border Patrol were left out of the bill for now.
The shutdown began in February when lawmakers couldn't agree on how to handle funding tied to immigration enforcement. It marked the longest shutdown ever for a single federal agency.
Robert Mack, a union representative for TSA workers with the American Federation of Government Employees, said the relief is welcome, but the financial recovery will take time.
"We're playing catch-up to be blunt about it. People have overextended themselves trying to stay at leveled because they are not getting paid. This isn't going to change overnight, it's going to take a while for everybody to recover."
Mack also called on Congress to act before the September funding deadline arrives.
"I really would like for Congress to get their act together and be a little proactive on this one so when it comes to the end of September, we're not in the exact same position," he added.
Derrick Arnold, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer and president of NTEU Chapter 105, the local CBP officers union, said the prolonged shutdown took a real toll on workers and their families.
"You can't play politics with people's lives like this. There's so many people that have been hurting for so long, and we're trying to do whatever we can in order to help them and their families."
Arnold said he is glad to see funding restored, but warned that the pattern needs to change.
"We're happy that we're being funded. That being said, this is a continuous trend, and we have to find a happy medium in order to stop this yearly occurrence of government shutdowns."
Eric Swanson, retired Special Operations Supervisor for U.S. Border Patrol in a statement said "POTUS Trump attempted to convince Republicans not to vote in favor of the bill, but there were some obvious holdouts including the fact that the Democrats refused to fund Border Patrol and ICE."
Federal workers say they are glad to have some consistency — at least for now.
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