Government Shutdown

[clean1owner]

On 1/5/2019 at 9:24 PM, meadowlander said:

From what I have heard, passports are not impacted by the shutdown but Global Entry and TSA Pre Check applications are and will not be issued during the shutdown.

 

 

TSA Pre Check is operational. Just received Known Traveler Numbers today. Took less than a week.

[Milwaukee Eight]

7 minutes ago, clean1owner said:

 

 

TSA Pre Check is operational. Just received Known Traveler Numbers today. Took less than a week.

Just wondering why you would choose TSA Pre Check instead of Global Entry?

[fsjosh]

On 1/5/2019 at 9:50 PM, LisaLisa87 said:

 

Are you asking just about embarkation ports or all ports? We were in San Juan Christmas Eve and the forts were still open. Now, due to the shutdown, they are closed:

 

https://www.nps.gov/saju/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

 

This shutdown is worse than I thought!

[Dennis#1]

10 hours ago, LisaLisa87 said:

The beaches on St. John have been impacted as well, although it looks like Trunk Bay is okay for now.

 

https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm

 

5 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

This shutdown is worse than I thought!

Not good.  Sure hope the shut down ends soon.

[clean1owner]

52 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Just wondering why you would choose TSA Pre Check instead of Global Entry?

 

 

I don't fly international enough for Global Entry

[SRF]

5 hours ago, clean1owner said:

 

 

I don't fly international enough for Global Entry

 

For the $15 difference, if you fly once in 5 years, it is worth it. 😄

 

Global Entry is $100 for 5 years, Pre-Check alone is $85 for 5 years.

[SRF]

On 1/6/2019 at 12:51 PM, Aquahound said:

 

Backups clearing customs occur all year long.  Blaming the shutdown is a convenient excuse right now but it is not accurate.  CBP agents are fully staffed.  In fact, they are better staffed now because they are not allowed to take leave.

 

By the way, DHS hasn't missed a paycheck yet.  That will come on Jan 11 if they don't pass a budget by the 8th.  That's when I would expect to see a morale dump.  

 

Incorrect as a blanket for DHS.

 

Some DHS employees have been furloughed, and their Jan 11 paycheck will be impacted.  They will get paid IF Congress votes to pay them.

 

Those who worked during the furlough MAY get paid on Jan 11, or it may be delayed to a later paycheck.

 

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

7 hours ago, clean1owner said:

 

 

I don't fly international enough for Global Entry

Once is enough. Having flown with friends International who didn’t have GE, big difference. 

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Incorrect as a blanket for DHS.

 

You misunderstood.  I said the first missed paycheck will come on Jan 11.  That is a blanket statement for all DHS.  All DHS civilian employees, whether furloughed or not, will missed their paycheck on Jan 11.  In addition, all active duty USCG will miss their paychecks on Jan 15.

[Ralphinsc]

22 hours ago, BND said:

Congress voted to give backpay to everyone during the 2013 furlough so why didn't you get paid?  I was furloughed then and we never missed a check as a couple of days after we came back was our next payday and we got paid.  I actually enjoyed my time off.   I am not furloughed now as we are part of the 75% of the Gov that is funded.  DH is a Federal contractor and he is also funded (both our sons too).  My BIL (contractor) and SIL(Gov) on the other hand fall under Dept of Commerce and are both furloughed. While a PITA, BIL is using PTO and will be able to work that back off after reopening and SIL will get backpay because Congress will vote to give it to them if they haven't already.

 

     Not 100% on the person who you asked, but I had a very similar thing in 2013. I'm considered a Federal Contractor for my employment. I work for a company that is contracted to run a site for the Department of Energy. The 2013 closure hit right at the end of the fiscal year and the funding to run our contract was not approved, it was held up in the appropriations bill that was stalled in the shutdown. We got sent home without pay for those 11 days. WHEN funding was restored and the bill was passed to reimburse all federal employees, we were not considered part of that because we were contractors and not direct federal hires. Basically, it was up to our for-profit company to pay us back-pay for being out of funding, and they decided not to. 

 

     I know at least in this shutdown, we were fully funded through September 30th last year so we are fortunately not affected this time around. Hoping it gets resolved soon because 2013 wasn't a good time at all and this is dragging on longer than that now. 

[SRF]

3 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

You misunderstood.  I said the first missed paycheck will come on Jan 11.  That is a blanket statement for all DHS.  All DHS civilian employees, whether furloughed or not, will missed their paycheck on Jan 11.  In addition, all active duty USCG will miss their paychecks on Jan 15.

 

What you said previously:

 

By the way, DHS hasn't missed a paycheck yet.  That will come on Jan 11

if they don't pass a budget by the 8th.  That's when I would expect to see a morale dump. 

 

A bit different that what you are saying now.

 

[Aquahound]

25 minutes ago, SRF said:

What you said previously:

 

A bit different that what you are saying now.

 

If a budget isn't passed today, all DHS will not get paid on the 11th.  That is 100% true.  Not sure why you're having such a hard time comprehending.  Oh well.   Moving on.....

[johnjen]

7 hours ago, SRF said:

 

For the $15 difference, if you fly once in 5 years, it is worth it. 😄

 

Global Entry is $100 for 5 years, Pre-Check alone is $85 for 5 years.

...until you hit CLT, where we're all herded in the same line together.....

[clean1owner]

11 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Once is enough. Having flown with friends International who didn’t have GE, big difference. 

 

 

Yeah, I'll probably be wishing I did it a couple years from now.

[SRF]

18 hours ago, johnjen said:

...until you hit CLT, where we're all herded in the same line together.....

 

They don't have Global Entry kiosks?

 

 

[BND]

22 hours ago, Ralphinsc said:

 

     Not 100% on the person who you asked, but I had a very similar thing in 2013. I'm considered a Federal Contractor for my employment. I work for a company that is contracted to run a site for the Department of Energy. The 2013 closure hit right at the end of the fiscal year and the funding to run our contract was not approved, it was held up in the appropriations bill that was stalled in the shutdown. We got sent home without pay for those 11 days. WHEN funding was restored and the bill was passed to reimburse all federal employees, we were not considered part of that because we were contractors and not direct federal hires. Basically, it was up to our for-profit company to pay us back-pay for being out of funding, and they decided not to. 

 

     I know at least in this shutdown, we were fully funded through September 30th last year so we are fortunately not affected this time around. Hoping it gets resolved soon because 2013 wasn't a good time at all and this is dragging on longer than that now. 

Contractors do not get back pay and that's not what we're talking about in terms of it.  They are not Federal employees and cannot by law be paid during a furlough as they can't bill their contract.  I was talking about Fed Gov employees and the pp was talking about Fed Gov employees who are AF/DOD civilian.

[A&L_Ont]

On 1/8/2019 at 5:44 AM, SRF said:

 

For the $15 difference, if you fly once in 5 years, it is worth it. 😄

 

Global Entry is $100 for 5 years, Pre-Check alone is $85 for 5 years.

 

Money well spent.

 

On 1/8/2019 at 7:48 AM, Milwaukee Eight said:

Once is enough. Having flown with friends International who didn’t have GE, big difference. 

 

We made my MIL get the Canadian version called Nexus, as she was joining us on three international trips with us in 2 years time.  She was amazed by how we bypassed 30 minutes of wait times to be literally the next in line.  She wasn't skeptical after her first experience.

 

46 minutes ago, SRF said:

They don't have Global Entry kiosks?

 

Looking on-line at CLT's website it appears as though they have had it since 2012.  It reads as though there are times to which it is not available.

 

http://www.cltairport.com/AirlineandFlightInformation/Pages/SecurityTips.aspx

[LB_NJ]

At some point TSA agents will stop showing up and the airports will close.  Trickle down effect will be not enough passengers to fill cruise ships.

[Wine-O]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

At some point TSA agents will stop showing up and the airports will close.  Trickle down effect will be not enough passengers to fill cruise ships.

Well, then they will be fired -- remember the air traffic controllers?  It should be privatized anyway.

[LB_NJ]

1 hour ago, Wine-O said:

Well, then they will be fired -- remember the air traffic controllers?  It should be privatized anyway.

 

It is probably unconstitutional to make people work without getting paid.  Air traffic controllers were different.

 

Law enforcement should never be privatized.

[gnr25]

At some point, customs officers and TSA staff would run out of money and have no way to get to work. No way to pay to gas their car or even to ride the bus to and from work. So eventually airports and border crossing would have to shutdown, bringing the US to a standstill.

[Wine-O]

2 hours ago, gnr25 said:

At some point, customs officers and TSA staff would run out of money and have no way to get to work. No way to pay to gas their car or even to ride the bus to and from work. So eventually airports and border crossing would have to shutdown, bringing the US to a standstill.

If it comes to that, they'll just close the Canada/US border.   

[gnr25]

So much for visiting my grandparents in New York in February or my cruise in March. Thankfully there were no issues with last week’s cruise.

 

Some of the embassy staff here are not happy about not getting paid this Friday. And the customs officers at the Ottawa airport will also not be paid.

Edited January 10, 2019 by gnr25

[time4u2go]

4 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

 

It is probably unconstitutional to make people work without getting paid.  Air traffic controllers were different.

 

Law enforcement should never be privatized.

I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the constitution about people getting paid for work.

[JAMESCC]

2 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the constitution about people getting paid for work.

I'm pretty sure slaves labor has been outlawed.