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Federal News Radio
30K furloughs
imminent if Congress can't pass DHS spending bill
Monday - 2/9/2015
By Sean McCalley and the Associated Press
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will have to furlough at least
30,000 employees if Congress doesn't pass a spending bill to cover DHS
funding beyond Feb. 27. Those furloughs could still happen if Congress
decides to kick the can and pass another continuing resolution, the
agency's Chief Financial Officer Chip Fulghum told Federal News Radio.
Those furloughs could include 80 percent of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency's workforce, Johnson said Sunday on CNN's "State of
the Union."
In the event of a shutdown, Johnson's plan would draw on his
contingency plan for the shutdown in 2013. That plan still required
large portions of the agency to keep coming to work, but without pay.
Specifically, that includes about 90 percent of border control agents,
85 percent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and 93 percent
of Transportation Security Administration officials.
"Yes, it is that big of a deal," said Johnson, when asked if that
contingency plan would matter to most of his agency.
Furloughs and loss of pay would also extend to DHS contractors, said
Fulghum. "Contractors, subcontractors ... depending on how the contract
is structured, would be sent home," he said.
To hear Democrats and many Republicans tell it, the result would be
unacceptable risks to U.S. security at a time of grave threats
worldwide. In reality, though, most people will see little change if
the department's money flow is halted, and some of the warnings of doom
are as exaggerated as they are striking.
"There are ghoulish, grim predators out there who would love to kill us
or do us harm," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, top Democrat on
the Senate Appropriations Committee. "We should not be dillydallying
and playing parliamentary pingpong with national security...
Read the rest of the article at Federal News Radio
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