The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association is calling on Congress to pass five bipartisan spending bills and separate contentious Department of Homeland Security funding negotiations to prevent a partial government shutdown.
NARFE National President William Shackelford sent a letter to Congress on Monday urging lawmakers to move forward with appropriations bills that have already received bipartisan agreement while continuing negotiations on the disputed Homeland Security funding.
“There is no compelling rationale to withhold funding for five of the six remaining bills, covering our nation’s defense, administration of health care programs, and more, over controversy regarding Homeland Security funding,” Shackelford wrote in the letter.
The five bills with bipartisan support cover Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, State-Foreign Operations, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, and Financial Services and General Government.
According to Shackelford, failing to separate the controversial Homeland Security bill from the others “only results in needless government dysfunction, and waste of taxpayer dollars.”
NARFE represents the interests of federal employees, retirees and their survivors. The organization has advocated for federal workers for more than 100 years.
