ATLANTA — The clock is ticking to a government shutdown. Lawmakers are running out of time to pass a spending bill.
The deadline is midnight Friday, but as we get closer to the deadline, a shutdown seems more and more likely.
Congress rejected the latest spending plan backed by President-elect Donald Trump and it was some Republicans who rejected it.
The last thing Aaron Barker wants to see is a government shutdown.
“We have to come to work even if the government shuts down,” Barker said.
He’s a lead TSA officer and the president of the local TSA workers union.
“A lot of officers live paycheck to paycheck, so you know, this is the holiday season. We’re supposed to be happy and joyful, and we have this thing looming over our heads,” Barker told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
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Lawmakers are scrambling to pass some kind of spending plan a day after Congress rejected the plan back by Trump and just days after Trump torpedoed a bipartisan effort.
It wasn’t just Democrats against it -- 38 Republicans rejected it including Georgia U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde.
“My constituents sent me to Congress to save our republic. Not to worsen Washington’s deficit spending problem,” Clyde said in a statement.
But fellow Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Austin Scott voted for it.
“American farmers need help now and our country does not need a costly government shutdown,” Scott said.
“This is what frustrates so many people about Washington, DC,” U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said.
Warnock said he pushed to get the bipartisan bill passed only to see it fail.
He said things like hurricane relief and relief for Georgia farmers hang in the balance.
“Congress should not go home and celebrate Christmas while being a grinch for families struggling in Valdosta and all across Georgia,” Warnock said.
Barker told Elliot that it’s frustrating for all of them.
“This is the holiday season. (Lawmakers’) pay isn’t going to get stopped. They’re still going to get paid,” Barker said.
Once a spending bill is eventually approved, Barker and other federal workers will get back pay but until then, a shutdown means no paycheck at Christmas.
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