Congress is on recess. Don’t believe me, ask CNBC.
DHS is unfunded.
DHS includes TSA and the coast guard.
Coast Guard
The coast guard does some important stuff.
and this was on Feb 15, so they’re doing it for free.
Here’s a bit about the coast guard.
Grok told me that.
TSA
Shoes off, check your liquids, scan your bag…it’s a pain, but it’s meant to keep us safe.
And when TSA has trouble, our planes are delayed or they don’t fly at all.
TSA has trouble. They aren’t funded which means they’re not getting paid. Would you show up to work if your boss said “we’d like you to come in but we’re not going to pay you.” Even if you showed up, would you give it your best?
This could be a big deal. 2 weeks ago, my wife and I went on a winter vacation. Remember back to January 31. Funding had lapsed as congress was on break. We left extra early and got through TSA, but I was in a bit of a panic. We had 5 days planned. I had an expensive hotel waiting as well as a rental car. I can’t imagine the nice folks in the Caymans giving me my money back because the US government couldn’t get its act together.
Again
Yes, the full government was shut down for about 4 days 2 weeks ago.
The whole ICE thing was causing an uproar and politicians were digging in their heals and once again holding us hostage.
Then they took a break from the drama and went on break. I wrote about it here.
My main issue on January 31 was that everyone knew funding was set to run out on January 31. We knew this months ago. Who scheduled congress to be on break that week?
Think Back
And if we think way way back to the shut-down in October and November of 2025 – can you remember back that far? – the government had shut down for somewhere around 40 days.
If you’d like to reminisce, click here.
One of congress’ key responsibilities is to set the budget. They’ve failed 3 times in less than 6 months. How is that OK?
Wrap Up
Here we go again. 3rd time in less than 6 months.
Don’t expect a quick resolution. Congress is on recess.
I was thinking about how I’d explain this to my grandson. “TSA is shut down so flights are delayed and the only people who can fix it are on vacation so we’ll have to wait.” I’d be embarrassed to tell him these were people that we elected to represent us.
I don’t understand.