Press Releases

Yesterday Congressman Don Beyer introduced the bipartisan DHS Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act to ensure that all federal Department of Homeland Security employees receive retroactive pay in the event of a shutdown, regardless of furlough status. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) came out in strong support of this proposal.

President Colleen M. Kelley, National President of the NTEU, offered support for the bill stating, “NTEU appreciates Rep. Beyer taking the lead on this important legislation to protect hard working federal employees from another threat to their paycheck. It is unthinkable that once again, DHS employees are facing a shutdown. Congress should act quickly to avert the looming shutdown of Homeland Security and pass a full-year funding bill for the department as soon as possible.”

NTEU is the nation’s largest independent federal-employee union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.

“I’m honored to have the support of NTEU and President Kelley. They recognize the important work our DHS employees do every day to protect our country and they understand the risks of playing political football with our safety and security. I look forward to working with the NTEU and other Members to minimize the harm done to our federal employees from these partisan fights,” said Rep. Beyer.

In addition to NTEU, a number of lawmakers have joined as cosponsors in the hours since Rep. Beyer introduced his bipartisan proposal to protect federal paychecks. Reps. David Price (D-NC), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Mark Takai (D-HI), and Brad Ashford (D-NE) will be joining original co-sponsors Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Scott Rigell (R-VA), John Delaney (D-MD), and Barbara Comstock (R-VA).

Click here to learn more about the DHS Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act.