Homeland Security shutdown would affect 800 Montana workers

WASHINGTON – More than 800 airport screeners, border patrol officers and other Homeland Security employees working in Montana would be affected if Congress doesn't reach agreeement this week on funding the agency for the rest of the fiscal year.

"The American people are running out of time," Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., said. "Homeland Security is too important to play politics with."

Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, said it's critical that Congress "have an open debate on all issues facing Congress," something he said Democrats had failed to do. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester blasted GOP members of the House for "playing politics with our national security."

"Hundreds of Montanans work hard every day to keep us safe. Now, many of them may be furloughed because House Republicans refuse to responsibly govern," Tester said.

In Montana, the Homeland Security Department employs 802 workers, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management. Most of them — 456 — are in Customs and Border Protection, with most of the rest in the Transportation Security Administration (238 people) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (61).

The shutdown could also impact more than $7 million in emergency preparedness funding in Montana.

In 2014, Montana received $4.4 million through the Homeland Security Grant Program and $3.3 million through Emergency Management Performance Grants.

During that same year, Cascade County received $103,633 through the EMPG and Great Falls Fire Rescue received $67,983 through the Homeland Security program, city officials said. The fire department also received $93,000 for the Firefighter Grant Program through DHS.

In the last decade, city records estimate that GFFR has received $1.3 million in DHS funding. Most of that went to equipment and training and doesn't affect daily operations, according to city officials.

Most of the workers probably would stay on the job even if funding runs out at midnight Friday. But they wouldn't be paid until Congress agrees on a bill covering operations through Sept, 30. Others would simply be sent home.

Republicans, who control both the House and the Senate, are trying to pass spending legislation containing provisions that would reverse President Barack Obama's executive order protecting about 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Texas temporarily blocked Obama's executive orders on immigration just days before immigrants were set to apply for work permits and temporary legal status. Texas and 25 other states are challenging the constitutionality of the president's action.

A poll from Montana State University in Billings found last October that 74 percent of respondents did not believe the president had the authority to grant amnesty without congressional approval.

The ongoing debate over DHS funding has led to finger-pointing among Republicans and Democrats as to who is to blame, with Montana's delegation not immune to the criticism.

There was bipartisan progress in the Senate on Wednesday, with a deal in the works to pass and send back to the House a "clean" Homeland Security funding bill. But it was unclear whether Republicans in the House would adopt the bill before the midnight Friday deadline.

The Homeland Security Department employs about 240,000 workers across the country. Some 30,000 of them — mostly office workers — would be told to stay home without pay if the agency closes after Friday. About 80 percent considered "essential" would remain working, but they would not get paid unless Congress decided later to do so retroactively.

"It's disruptive," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told reporters this week. "It creates a lot of uncertainty. It has an impact on morale, obviously." He said the agency still had not fully recovered from the partial government shutdown in 2013.

Other federal agencies aren't affected by the current impasse because Congress passed a catch-all spending bill last year funding those agencies through Sept. 30.

Tribune Staff Writer Jenn Rowell contributed to this report. Contact Christopher Doering at cdoering@gannett.com or at Twitter: @cdoering