Congress withholding pay & benefits from any .gov worker is inhumane.

[Jacson6]

Congress must stop this cruelty to workers & their families.

[surfered]

1. The Senate passed a bill to pay TSA workers. Speaker Johnson won't allow it to come to the floor of the House for a vote

[Prairie Gates]

2. Republicans control Congress

They are free to pass some modest reforms to ICE and CBP and fund the whole of DHS at any time.

They are also free to fund all DHS agencies other than ICE and CBP at any time - bills that Democrats have put forth seven times over the last two months.

The House Republicans are also free to pass the Senate-passed bill that does just that: they rejected it and went on break. The House Republicans did that, not "Congress" as a whole.

[Jacson6]

3. I'm not here to argue about who did what. Congress as an overall policy should not deny workers paychecks in the future.

[gab13by13]

4. Well you should be here to argue who did what

Congressional Democrats had a bill on day 1 to pay the Coast Guard and TSA workers, Congressional Magats in the House were ordered by Krasnov not to pass that bill.

Krasnov has a bill to rig the election tied with the funding bill. Krasnov is using TSA workers as pawns, Democrats in Congress are absolutely not to blame.

[mr715]

27. So you're trolling.

[Jacson6]

29. I don't appreciate your Ad hominem. N/T

[mr715]

30. Apologies.

Last edited Tue Mar 31, 2026, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)

I just don't see the implicit "both sides" to this. "Pay government agents!" to me is the same sort of smarm that "support the troops" or "All lives matter" is...

You say you don't care about who, so I don't take seriously your engagement with this position.

[Jacson6]

31. All I'm saying that what congress has done to these workers and their families is to harm them.

Congress should have a rule or law to not allow the non-payment of a wage or salary for federal workers. I think it is unethical and immoral to do that to workers.

IMHO.

[mr715]

32. They'll get back pay.

[everyonematters]

7. Everyone knows there is the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Yes they can override it, but it is an expected and respected institution by the public.

[Prairie Gates]

8. They met the threshold

And presented a funding bill to the House, where Johnson shelved it.

Republicans control Congress.

[everyonematters]

10. We are still refusing to fund DHS. Everyone is responsible for their own actions.

Refusing to fund DHS is an action.

[Prairie Gates]

11. The action is refusing to greenlight fascist murderers on the streets of our communities

Happy to see the Dems take that action. The other action was putting forth full funding bills for TSA and the Coast Guard, and even for HSI, which has been part of the fascist operation - a concession.

Happy to see Dems take that action, too. The impulse to both-sides this thing and blame the Dems is completely unbelievable.

[mr715]

28. It got passed.

It went to the House and got shelved.

[Torchlight]

5. All it takes is the little Johnson to allow it

I'm not going to point my finger at the intake valve when the tire is flat.

[SSJVegeta]

6. Or 4(ish?) GOPers to sign a discharge petition

[everyonematters]

9. Everyone is accountable for their own actions. Refusing to fund DHS is an action.

It is perfectly reasonable for people to hold both parties partly responsible for the shutdown, and they probably do. This reinforces the notion that government isn't working.

[gab13by13]

12. Bull, that is a right wing talking point IMO.

Democrats pushed a bill to fund the Coast Guard and TSA workers, the Senate voted unanimously and passed bill.
Krasnov wants a voting bill attached to the funding bill so he can rig the next election and his good fluffer buddy Mikie Johnson obliged him.

ICE is funded, it doesn't need money.

[everyonematters]

13. Why do you think our approval rating with independents is 28%? It is actions like this.

[dpibel]

14. Can you give me a source for that number?

I've just spent a fair amount of time on the search engine, and I'm not seeing any current numbers.

Thanks!

[everyonematters]

15. In today's YouGov poll it is 23%.

[dpibel]

16. Sorry to be dense, but how about a link?

I've just spent some time on YouGov and am not finding that stat.

Many thanks.

[everyonematters]

18. No problem.

https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_3wplfYX.pdf

[dpibel]

20. Thank you.

[EdmondDantes_]

17. Here's a Quinnipiac poll from a few days ago

https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2026/03/25/quinnipiac-poll-shows-healthcare-costs-top-concern-for-voters-trump-approval-falls-on-foreign-policy-and-economy/

Independent voters view the Democrats (28%) more positively than the Republicans (23%). Asked which party they would like to see control Congress, voters by a 51% – 40% margin said they would like to see Democrats in charge.

The good news is we're more positive to independents than Republicans and significantly ahead on the who independents want in charge of Congress.

[everyonematters]

19. The low favorability with independents, is an indication that they are voting with us as a check on Trump,

not because they have confidence in us.

[EdmondDantes_]

21. I would agree. But in the short term, I'm happy to focus on that positive

That we haven't lost them entirely and that they are willing to give us the chance to reverse the Trump damage.

[everyonematters]

25. Yes, if we win the House or the Senate, that will be our big chance to show that we can make a difference.

[mr715]

23. Ok.

Government isn't working. Who controls the government?

Do Democrats hold a majority in the House?
Do Democrats hold a majority in the Senate?
Do Democrats have a President in the White House?

Yeah -- government doesn't work when Republicans are in charge. Because they don't want it to work. Because their entire political dogma is that government doesn't work, so why would you expect them to have a functional government? It bumps their brand.

Both parties are not responsible. Both parties do not share power.

The minority is not responsible for governance. To put it crudely, we don't need to apologize when we keep getting kicked in the dick.

[Prairie Gates]

24. Imagine

Coming on Democratic Underground to argue that the Democrats are responsible for the TSA not getting paid when

1. The Democrats have proposed seven separate bills to split ICE and CBP from the rest of DHS for the purpose of paying every other agency - all rejected by the GOP

2. The GOP-controlled Senate even had a deal with Democrats on one of these bills that they were instructed to reject by the GOP President

3. The GOP Senate then accepted one such deal (that included major Democratic concessions on ICE reform - as every GOP troll on the internet from Michigan to Staten Island was happy to trumpet when even their stupid asses assumed that the House would have to pass it), and the GOP Senate passed that bill, and it was then explicitly rejected by the GOP Speaker of the House!

Imagine it!

[mr715]

26. I am sympathetic to the concern for people that have been hurt.

I am not, however, of the position that

(a) Democrats bear any responsibility in this mess at all

(b) We can weigh paychecks against foundational liberal (classical principles) such as the government not being empowered to kill its citizens with impunity

(c) it is good political calculus for the minority party to initiate negotiation with a majority that has no respect for the rights of a minority, despite the razor thin margin separating them

(d) We must unilaterally disarm political weaponry because we are concerned about the poor, the needy, and general public, and the good of the Republic. We should have learned over the last 30 years - we should not negotiate with terrorists.

(e) When we engaged in a foreign war, with less thought than Iraq and even more muddled messaging - a war started on a whim and a whisper from a foreign nation - that we, the minority party, should form a coalition with the people that put us in this position.

(f) That had the veritable orgy of spending that went to ICE and Border Patrol can't be redirected to TSA. Trump has already shown little concern for Congressional control over spending and budget - why should he stop now? He even issued his dogshit executive order. Let them clean their mess using their own tools. Why should we care? We didn't start the fire. If they want to put it out with spray bottles, more power to 'em. Let them try. We have a clear, articulable, and superior position.


Yeah, TSA workers should get paid. And Alex Pretti shouldn't have been murdered. And Renee Good shouldn't have been shot in the face and left for dead while her partner watched.

The Democrats have suffered for my entire political awareness because they wan't stuff to work, and that means they put forward policy, test it, and sometimes it doesn't work. But it is always for the public good. Every Democrat I've known has triangulated their position to try to open the tent as wide as possible, to invite as many and ensure that support for policy is wide yet shallow.

What Trump has taught me, and I hope taught us as a party, is that there is a separate axis of action, independent of policy outcomes and ethics -- assertiveness. An unwillingness to engage in 'smarm' and 'bullshit' and is willing to call it out. Someone when presented with the claim, "Do you support the troops?" responds with, "That is a bullshit question -- it is easy to say support the troops but I support the American people and want our troops at home, safe, and secure"

When presented with "The TSA should get paid," responding with "Yes, so the GOP should pass a funding package. They have the votes. They cannot count on our votes because we do not believe DHS should be funded."


Imagine, indeed.

I'd rather 10,000 be inconvenienced than 1 be murdered. They will get their pay with interest. They will get special payment plans and protections. It sucks, they were put in a horrible position by their coworkers in DHS/ICE/CBP. They should be angry as well with the party that made it possible for their employer to be so damaged that 50% of the Senate cannot in good conscience continue funding them.

Who's mess? Thune's mess.

[mr715]

22. There is a lot of cruelty Congress should stop.

Murders, for one. By the state, of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and countless more in internment camps by ICE.

Congress should take a stand against genocide in the middle east and wars of mercantile imperialism.

Congress should protect our democracy so that people having their salaries withheld can vote a government that values them into power.

However, Congress is controlled by Republicans. They hold all the cards.

Democrats bare no responsibility for this even if it goes on for years.

The minority is not burdened by the ethics of governance. If the GOP wants workers paid, they can get it done without Democrats. But they won't.