As I write this, it is 12:48AM, EST. The Congress, they believe in their wisdom, shut down a portion of the government, again. The Department of Homeland Security has begun a partial shutdown after a midnight deadline passed without a funding agreement in the Senate. While much of the federal government remains open through September, this lapse specifically impacts the agencies tasked with our national safety—from the Customs and Border Protection officers at our gates to the TSA agents at our airports and the Coast Guard crews on our coasts. For these public servants, the political impasse in Washington has moved from the halls of Congress to the kitchen table, where the certainty of a paycheck has been replaced by the “essential” nature of their unpaid labor.
The human cost of this stalemate is found not in the rhetoric of the debate, but in the quiet strain on families living paycheck-to-paycheck. While essential services like TSA, border inspections and air traffic control continue and others will be furloughed, and those remaining on the job face the prospect of missed pay as they wait for a resolution. Thousands are now being asked to maintain the nation’s security while their own financial security remains in limbo. Oh, by the way, the cowardly congress is still paid, and are leaving on vacation.
The next steps for a Department of Homeland Security resolution are uncertain. The hope remains that the same deliberative process that has sustained this Republic will soon find a way to provide for those who serve it, ensuring that duty is once again met with the stability these workers have earned.
God Bless every one of you.
