WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees will no longer need to worry about working without a paycheck, now that Congress has passed a full funding bill preventing the agency from shutting down, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement.
“On behalf of the approximately 225,000 men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, we thank those in Congress — Democrats and Republicans — who voted for this bill and, in particular, those in Congress who showed the leadership necessary to get the job done,” Johnson said on Tuesday.
Johnson explained that the $39.7 billion bill to fund the DHS was on its way to US President Barack Obama for approval, and DHS employees could now work “without the uncertainty of a furlough or a delayed paycheck hanging over their heads.”
Last week, US President Barack Obama approved a funding extension for the DHS through March 6, 2015, which averted a partial shutdown of the agency after the US.
On February 27, the US Senate passed a bill to fully fund the DHS for the 2015 fiscal year.
The agreement to pass the bill was reached in the Senate when the Republican leadership removed language that defunded Obama’s executive action on immigration.
US Senate Democrats have blocked previously proposed DHS funding bills from coming to a vote because Republicans had included provisions barring funding for Obama’s November 2014 executive order, which provides deportation relief for millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States.
