The Obama administration released a plan late Friday for how the Department of Homeland Security will deal with a shutdown, as Congressional leaders remain at an impasse over how to fund the agency.
The 46-page document notes that those responsible for airport security, the Secret Service, law enforcement, intelligence gathering and the border patrol are among the 87 percent of personnel exempted from a shutdown.
Some services, such as disaster relief and fee-funded immigration services would continue, while so-called non-essential employees with administrative duties would be furloughed, such as those involved with research and development, policy, auditing, regulation and training, and development.
"Excepted" or “essential” workers must continue to work, but they won’t be paid until Congress finds an agreement to fund the agency. The DHS memo notes that should DHS shut down, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would direct supervisors to immediately notify exempt employees, likely via email.
Agencies most impacted during the shutdown include the DHS Inspector General, with 47 percent of its employees furloughed, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, which would retain just 68 of its 1,039 employees. Others hit hard include smaller offices dealing with nuclear detection and health.
President Obama met with DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson and OMB Director Shaun Donovan on Friday night, as well as other members of his senior team, to discuss the looming shutdown. before the Senate passed a 1-week temporary funding measure. Obama also called House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for an update.
At 9p.m. Friday evening, the Senate has passed a 1-week temporary funding measure but the House has yet to vote on the proposal.
The House earlier on Friday failed to approve a stop-gap measure that would have extended the agency’s funding for three weeks. Some Republicans refused to back the measure because it didn’t specifically defund President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, while Democrats mostly voted against the bill because they want a longer-term funding measure.(
More/Source)
