March 25 (UPI) — Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator for Transportation Security Administration, said Wednesday that TSA agents are struggling during the shutdown.
She made the comments during a hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security amid funding issues for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Officers are reportedly sleeping in their cars at airports to save gas money, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second and third jobs to make ends meet, all while expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public,” she said in her opening statement to the committee.
“Many have received eviction notices, lost their childcare, missed bill payments and been charged late fees, damaged their credit, defaulted on loans, and have been unable to even qualify for a loan to help ease the financial burden during the shutdown.”
According to TSAcareer.com, the starting base salary for officers is $34,454. The average is $46,000-$55,000 with locality adjustments.
Officials from TSA, the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency said their readiness has been severely hurt by the partial government shutdown.
McNeill testified that 480 officers have quit the TSA since their pay stopped Feb. 14 and that the agency will not be able to replace them before visitors begin arriving for the World Cup in June.
She said officers spend four to six months in training before working at checkpoints, while the World Cup games begin in 80 days.
“Even if TSA were to hire new officers upon conclusion of the DHS shutdown, those officers would not be able to work on the checkpoints until well after the World Cup has concluded,” she said. “We are facing a potential perfect storm of severe staffing shortages and an influx of millions of passengers at our airports.”
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans said President Donald Trump was on board with their plan to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.
On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he will “expeditiously move” to write the reconciliation process for the new Republican-led measure that will bypass the filibuster even without the 60 votes needed.
“The purpose of the second reconciliation bill is to make sure there is adequate funding to secure our homeland and to support our men and women in the military who are fighting so bravely,” Graham said in a statement.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor that “this morning, Democrats sent Republicans our counteroffer on legislation to reopen DHS, pay TSA workers, while at the same time, rein in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] with common sense guardrails.”
“Our offer is a reasonable, good-faith proposal that contains some of the very same asks Democrats have been talking about now for months,” he said.
Schumer also noted that the ICE reforms are not new or surprise demands.
