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As Congress remains gridlocked on reaching a bipartisan approach to preventing a government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz has introduced legislation that would ensure Border Patrol agents are paid even if the looming potential shutdown happens.
“Border Patrol agents work hard each and every day to keep our border and nation safe,” De La Cruz, R-McAllen, said. “The thought of not paying these agents during a government shutdown is unconscionable. That is why I introduced this legislation to make sure they are taken (care) of.”
Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, is a co-sponsor of the bill.
The funding would come from “any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,” the proposed bill stated.
De La Cruz introduced the bill on Tuesday and it has been referred to the House Committee on Appropriations, congressional records indicate.
The potential shutdown comes as large groups of migrants are crossing into Eagle Pass to seek asylum.
The Associated Press reported last week that 8,000 people arrived there, overwhelming Border Patrol agents in that sector.
The Rio Grande Valley has not seen those large groups arriving here recently, though local law enforcement and Border Patrol agents are involved in apprehensions on a daily basis.
The deadline for a government shutdown is Saturday.
At issue in Washington D.C. is a united Senate and a divided House.
The Senate has a bipartisan plan to prevent a government shutdown, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces opposition from far-right Republicans who walked away from the debt deal Biden and he reached this year that is now law, the Associated Press reported.
The holdouts want steeper spending cuts and more action on border security.
As for that bipartisan bill that would add billions in spending for Ukraine and disaster relief that would fund the government until Nov. 17, McCarthy has rejected it, the Associated Press reported.
And McCarthy’s bill that would slash federal spending by 8% and toughen border security has been rejected by the far-right Republican holdouts, Democrats and President Joe Biden, according to the Associated Press.
