FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2026
March 28, 2026
Contact: AFGE Communications
AFGE President Everett Kelley Slams Congress for Going on Vacation While DHS Workers Go Unpaid
Categories:
TSA, Congress, AFGE National President
Kelley to Congress: “Come back to Washington. Honor your oath. Do your job.”
WASHINGTON – Today, following a breakdown of a bipartisan deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Congress’s decision to leave town rather than continue working to resolve the issue to pay tens of thousands of employees who have been working without a full paycheck for over 40 days, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
“I have never been more disgusted by the failure of elected leadership in my life.
“Though TSA officers will be paid, FEMA workers, Coast Guard, CISA, and other DHS employees are waiting on their back pay. These are not abstractions. These are American fathers and mothers and sons and daughters who serve our country every single day.
“And Congress left them without a paycheck and went on a two-week paid vacation on our dime.
“Forty-two days. No check. No relief. No apology as Congress packed their bags and left these American families to struggle alone.
“AFGE members took an oath. They have a job to do. They are showing up to do it. When is Congress going to do the same?
“Come back to Washington. Honor your oath. Do your job.”
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