Congress narrowly averted a homeland-security shutdown at the eleventh hour last week by passing a stopgap measure funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for one more week while negotiations over long-term funding continue.
DHS funding was set to expire Friday at midnight, and appeared slated to do so when Congress failed to pass a three-week stopgap measure on Friday afternoon. The one-week compromise came late Friday and means Congress will continue sparring over the issue this week. Republicans say that any long-term DHS funding measure should include provisions limiting the president's executive action on immigration. Democrats, howevever, insist that funding should be granted without conditions.
The travel industry, the stability of which is threatened by a potential DHS shutdown, criticized Congress' inability to make a long-term deal.
"The Global Business Travel Association [GBTA] is disappointed that Congress was not able to fully fund DHS through the rest of the fiscal year, instead choosing to leave DHS in limbo with the continued threat of a shutdown just one week from now. The travel community and travel programs need certainty," GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick said in a statement. "The failure to pass a full-year funding bill could unnecessarily disrupt business travel, an industry that will account for $310.2 billion in spending during 2015, directly impacting the economy. DHS must now spend time again preparing for a possible shutdown, which could also delay planned enhancements to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck and Global Entry Programs."
According to McCormick, a DHS shutdown wouldn't just hurt travel; it would hurt the entire U.S. economy.
"GBTA's 'Business Traveler Study 2014: The Cost of Mishaps,' looked at how travel disruptions impact the economy. Overall, a business travel-related mishap costs a traveler an average of $1,475 in missed work and out-of-pocket expenses and 2.3 work days lost," he continued. "For the sake of our economy at large, Congress must stop moving from crisis to crisis. We strongly urge Congress to work together quickly to make sure that essential government agencies, such as DHS, can continue to provide the essential services they are intended to deliver."
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