Washington (CNN) — Congress has just 12 days until Department of Homeland Security funding runs out, and House Speaker John Boehner this weekend said he was “certainly” willing to let that happen.
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has said a shutdown would cause a “terrible disruption” for everyday Americans, and the White House is slated this week to ramp up pressure on Congress to deliver a compromise to fund the agency.
Republicans, however, say the impact of a shutdown would be minimal, because most of DHS’ operations are considered essential, and so would continue despite a funding lapse.
So what would actually happen if Congress doesn’t pass a funding bill in time?
Some DHS employees would be furloughed — but most won’t.
Two kinds of government staffers are required to work during a shutdown: Employees whose salaries are paid for by funds outside the appropriations process, and those “whose work is necessary for the preservation of the safety of human life or the protection of property,” according to the Congressional Research Service. Unsurprisingly, that latter part covers quite a lot of DHS’ workforce.
During the 2013 government shutdown, around 200,000 DHS employees were required to report to work, many of them without pay.
Those that are required to work include 50,000 TSA screeners, 40,000 active duty Coast Guard members, 13,000 immigration law enforcement officers, 40,000 border patrol and customs officers, and 4,000 Secret Service agents.
But there would be some — around 30,000 or so — furloughs, mainly hitting the department’s management and administrative functions. It’s possible, though, that staffers furloughed could be called back to work in case of an emergency — and immediately re-furloughed after they handled the issue.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/16/politics/dhs-shutdown-consequences/index.html
