Please help me understand the following:
There’s extremely long lines at major airports right now. They’re costing travelers hours upon hours of waiting.
There’s several factors causing these long lines … the weather, spring break … but the main one is that TSA agents have not been paid for over a month, and many of them have quit or are calling in sick — hundreds of them.
Now, the main reason the TSA agents have not been paid is because we’re currently in a partial federal government shut-down.
The main reason we’re in a partial government shut-down is because Republican and Democratic congressional members cannot agree to a budget (continual resolution).
The reason the two parties cannot agree is because Democrats refuse to fund ICE and the Department of Homeland Security — without reform — due to the killings of people, mass arrests and abuse by ICE this year of immigrants and American citizens. TSA agents and ICE are part of the same government department, DHS.
This impasse has gone on for 6 weeks or so.
Over the weekend, Senate Republicans came up with an option — split ICE off of the funding bill and fund TSA. Get TSA agents their paychecks, get them back to work, lose the long lines and long hours of waiting at the airports. Democrats have been open to this option.
Yet, Trump quashed the idea because he won’t support any legislation until Congress has passed his “Save Act” currently being debated. The so-called Save Act is actually a voter suppression measure because Trump and many Republicans know that without some Hail Mary move, they’ll lose the midterm elections, lose the House — and possibly the Senate. And Trump knows he’ll be impeached, again. In order to stay in power, the MAGA movement has to disallow millions of Americans their right to vote later this year. Perhaps up to 20 million.
Despite controlling the Second Branch of Government, a co-equal branch with the president, congressional Republicans don’t have the stomach or guts to oppose Trump.
So, there’s the impasse that continues and there’s long lines at the airports.
And now Trump is sending in ICE agents, hundreds, to do security, check IDs. They’re untrained except for crowd control, arrests, and shootings. ICE agents have already been paid – but not TSA agents.
What irony!
The very agents whose department half of Congress refuses to fund because of the killings and arrests by ICE agents, is now providing security at the airports because TSA agents have not been paid, due to the government shut-down due to the impasse, mass arrests and killings.
The very department not being funded because of how it treats Americans and immigrants is now providing security at airports for even more Americans, replacing other government agents who haven’t been paid.
I really hope you have an answer for me or at least help me understand all of this.
Both sides are successfully playing to their base. That’s the Reader’s Digest Version.
Only two words to understand. We’re f****d.
I think I mentioned this before. One of our military staff members is a Marine GySgt. She’s a Latino LGBTQ (who’s parents were from Juarez) and will be retiring from active duty very soon. Her next endeavor is ICE.
In general, I think Chris gets it right – we have two sides so deeply buried in their trenches that I don’t see a reasonable off-ramp to end the impasses going on. The Dems are using the only tool in their toolbox – refusing to fund DHS – to get badly needed concessions from the Republicans on the conduct of ICE officers. Remember that what the Dems are asking for are pretty basic reforms that are embraced by most law enforcement agencies – body cams, clear identification, clearly defined rules on the use of force, search warrants issued by judges, etc. Not exactly leftist lunatic demands, just basic law enforcement checks and balances.
I feel for the TSA agents. For 25 years I was employed by the State of California and for most of those years we would find ourselves at the end of June without an approved and signed budget. That meant there were no paychecks, only warrants that most banks would not honor. No matter what your job, it’s demoralizing to have to go to work each day with uncertainty as to when you will get paid. I was fortunate. At first I was single and didn’t have to take care of supporting a spouse or children. Later I had a spouse who was employed and could take up the financial slack. Not everyone of the TSA employees is so privileged. As much as I dislike the security theater that TSA screening has become, they deserve to be paid.
I’m not usually a betting person, but I’d wager a resolution comes this week, ie, Republicans offer to sever ICE off the money package, so as to only fund TSA (and maybe FEMA), and Dems join them in a vote that passes.