An officer with the Transportation Security Administration in Nevada is slamming President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut the agency’s budget by $52 million.

The president’s new budget proposal said smaller airports should be required to privatize their security operations in order to reduce costs. We have granted the TSA officer anonymity and disguised his voice at his request, in order to avoid retaliation on the job. He said the budget cuts would be extremely shortsighted, as the agency is already underfunded.

"We need the money because our equipment is falling apart," the agent explained. "We have metal detectors that are over 20 years old. We're working with equipment that's almost as old as some of the screeners that are working on it."

The officer acknowledged some airports like San Francisco and Kansas City already use private companies for security but it does not save money because they are required to maintain the same rate of pay.

Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown continues into a seventh week, with both houses of Congress adjourned for a two-week spring break. A deal is in the works to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security but not Border Patrol or ICE, as Republicans have rebuffed Democrats' push to reform immigration enforcement.

The officer argued Congress and the president need to figure out a compromise as soon as possible because the chaos is putting TSA officers under enormous emotional and financial strain.

"You don't want people stressed and worrying about their personal situation when you want them to be looking for weapons, explosives and incendiaries," the agent stressed.

The agency’s 50,000 employees just got some of their back pay, following an executive order from the president, and the long lines at U.S. airports are subsiding. It is the third government shutdown in the past six months.

Source: Public News Service