“I’m embarrassed to admit I once worked for the institution it has become”
From Steve Sprague, former TSA Federal Emergency Response Officer
Shutting down the federal government is the ultimate insult to millions of taxpayers who pay the bills. It’s like paying for a car online from your local dealer and having them refuse to give you the key.
While you can be happy the Postal Service is no longer a direct federal agency and will still deliver the mail, it won’t bring you the monthly pension or benefits check you expect and need. Chances are the people who send you the check are home on unpaid leave.
Which brings us to the feds themselves. While most will be home, about half of them will still be at work but without any guarantee they’ll be paid. If you have a flight scheduled, try not to think of the sour frame of mind your air traffic controller is in as a “critical” employee.
Same goes for a handful of the TSA screeners. In the best of times, they have some of the hardest jobs out there anyway. They face thousands of impatient, hassled travelers who hate the ritual of boarding an aircraft since 9/11.
In my almost 20 years at TSA headquarters, I wasn’t considered “critical” enough to be called into unpaid duty during past shutdowns but that was only because we (happily) never experienced a serious security incident during shutdowns.
Had there been a serious threat – or, at times – even a natural disaster, my comfortable unpaid leave would have ended. My TSA badge carried the red initials “F.E.R.O.” standing for Federal Emergency Response Officer. Meaning I was on 24/7/365 duty whenever a threat presented itself.
Why does that include hurricanes and earthquakes? Clearly not man-made security threats but unique opportunities for bad guys to exploit the chaos and confusion. Normal routines and prevention routines break down with 100-mph winds and rising rivers.
Even if the concerning event didn’t mean running to catch an airplane, I was still on call for duty at a “CIMG,” a Critical Incident Management Group. Natural disasters or serious security challenges led to formation of a CIMG. At least one senior employee of every office at TSA had to be present when the agency convened a CIMG at TSA’s operation center near Dulles Airport. They often lasted for days.
But even then, you could expect no paycheck. Older Americans living on their Social Security checks and families relying on food assistance worried about the next meal. Beyond the out-of-work feds, community businesses that relied on those families’ income faced ruin.
In early 2018, we endured 34 days of shutdown. Any way you look at it, that worked out to at least two pay periods without income for more than half-a-million “non-critical” employees for no reason of their own. Most of America’s uniformed military was working for free. Congress, by the way, is still being paid; determined to be critical because they’re filling jobs required by the Constitution.
Fortunately, when the previous shutdowns ended, Congress made up the lost paychecks. They even passed a law requiring repayment. But I assure you, that isn’t any comfort to any federal employee today. Today we have a President who takes real joy in firing, demeaning, and insulting the feds who administer your Medicaid claims and care for the wounds you brought from military service. And he loves ignoring laws by trying to replace them with Executive Orders. He’s already threatened to fire thousands if a shutdown occurs.
I was lucky to endure combat service without a continuing need for medical attention. I was also lucky enough to have spent almost 13 years on Capitol Hill when the parties fought but the members of both at least respected each other and got the work done.
Yes, that was 50 years ago. Today, Congress looks more like a mindless cult on one side and a passel of helpless whiners on the other. I refuse to “belong” to any party represented in Washington.
So, the bottom line is the fact that a shutdown caused by opponents who’s only goal is to make the other side look bad makes them BOTH look bad. I’m embarrassed to admit I once worked for the institution it has become. I’ll remember how they behaved when the ballot booth opens the next time. You should too.
Steve Sprague is a regular author of opinion pieces published on the Sun. He is a former Congressional staffer, former TSA agent, a Vietnam combat veteran, and a Bath NY resident. Contact him anytime, sgsprague@gmail.com
