Washington — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Friday that his agency could suffer “serious” consequences if Congress fails. Pass legislation to fund federal agencies And avoid a government shutdown. The warning came before the House passed a last-minute stopgap funding bill with bipartisan support Friday night, sending it to the Senate ahead of the deadline.
Many departments in the Department of Homeland Security will be affected by the funding shortfall, including the Transportation Security Administration, FEMA and Border Patrol, Mayorkas said in an interview with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” .
The Secretary of Homeland Security added that if lawmakers fail to pass a stopgap spending bill before Saturday, it means staff from the Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction will be reassigned to other parts of his department.
“The implications and consequences, especially for homeland security, are serious,” Mayorkas said.
He urged Congress to approve legislation to keep government agencies operating before midnight, when a short-term extension enacted in September expires.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released earlier this week A legislative package has been negotiated with Democrats that would extend government funding until March 14, provide more than $100 billion in disaster aid to states hit by extreme weather events and provide pay raises for members of Congress, among other measures.
But the proposal was immediately met with pushback from some conservative Republicans who balked at the size and scope of the 1,550-page contract. Crucially, it drew criticism from billionaire Elon Musk, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, and the president-elect himself.
trump and musk Torpedoed the packageMusk used his social media platform X to condemn the provision. The president-elect has further upended the financing deal for Republicans. solve the debt limit — scheduled to be restored on January 1 — is in their plans.
Johnson announced a second bill on Thursday that would fund the government for three months, suspend the national borrowing limit until January 2027 and provide $110 billion for disaster relief. The tailored bill Trump supported also included health care provisions, a one-year renewal of the farm bill and funding for the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. It collapsed in March..
But the bill failed to pass the House with the support it needed, with opposition from most Democrats and more than three dozen Republicans.
The defeat sent Johnson and Republican leaders back to the drawing board, with the prospect of escalating lockdowns over time.
Mayorkas told “Face the Nation” that the closures just before the holiday, when tens of millions of Americans travel, would mean TSA employees at airports across the country would have to work without pay. However, as before, you will likely receive back pay after the closure ends. lack of previous funds.
“Tens of thousands of TSA agents will be processing an incredibly large number of passengers at airports across the country, and they will be working without pay to keep the American public safe,” he said.
The Secretary of Homeland Security also said those affected would include U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“There are public servants who dedicate their talents and energies to the welfare of the American people, and who depend on their paychecks to make a living. After all, it is the holiday season. But our men and women will go without pay unless they are funded by the border.” “We will secure the U.S. border,” he said.
The $110 billion in disaster assistance likely to be included in the spending agreement includes funding for FEMA, which has been responding to the hurricanes that devastated the Southeast this fall.
Mayorkas said lack of action from Congress would impact storm-hit states, including North Carolina and Florida.
“What FEMA has to do is another important impact of the failure to fund the federal government now is they have to postpone. They have to pause certain contracts, certain projects that are actually rebuilding communities devastated by extreme weather events. “Tornadoes, hurricanes and fires will delay the rebuilding of our communities and delay the ability to provide relief to those who have suffered so much,” he said.
Mayorkas said that because of the closures occurring over the holidays, the Department of Homeland Security “must make the difficult decision to delay the project now.”
Lawmakers representing states hit hard by the storm have pushed for disaster relief to be included in any legislative package that funds the government.
