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WASHINGTON—Just a day before the nation saw the one-month mark of a partial shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security, NTEU President Doreen Greenwald sent a letter to House and Senate leadership demanding a bi-partisan solution to fund the agency employing more than 260,000 federal workers. While federal law enforcement officers at DHS are being paid with funds from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), thousands of other employees are showing up to work every day with no idea when they will receive a paycheck.

“That’s nearly a month of uncertainty where these frontline employees have had to wonder whether they’ll be able to pay their mortgage or buy groceries; a month of not knowing how long this shutdown will last,” said Greenwald in the letter. “Yet even with such uncertainty hanging over their heads, they still come to work every day to keep our country safe.” 

Reminding Congress that federal employees are not “pawns to be used for political brinkmanship,” Greenwald firmly requested a solution that funds DHS and ensures civil servants are paid for their hard work serving the American people. 

With thousands of DHS employees missing their first full paychecks last Friday, Greenwald noted that many have had to resort to frequenting food banks and other extreme measures to make ends meet.

“This is unacceptable. These employees should not have to depend on the charity of strangers to make ends meet while Congress fails to act,” she said, calling out the funding of the federal government as “one of Congress’ most important responsibilities.” 

NTEU represents employees in 38 federal agencies and offices, including DHS employees at CBP’s Office of Field Operations (CBP OFO) and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC).