PSC Raises Alarm as DHS Shutdown Passes 70th Day and Calls for Government Funding to Ensure Vital Public Safety Operations and Contractor Services Are Maintained
PSC fact sheet highlights government funding is critical for cybersecurity operations, TSA security screening support, FEMA disaster preparedness, and payments to U.S. businesses
ARLINGTON, VA— The Professional Services Council (PSC) today highlighted the mounting consequences of the continued Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding lapse–now the longest shutdown of a government agency in U.S. history. PSC is calling on Congress to act quickly to restore DHS funding and ensure federal contractors can deliver essential services the American public depends on every day.
As the shutdown stretches into late April, critical DHS missions are being degraded or deferred, including cybersecurity operations, TSA screening support, and FEMA disaster preparedness. At the same time, PSC member companies are reporting work they have performed is going unpaid, shortening the timeline these contractors can cover costs.
Cybersecurity functions that protect federal networks and critical infrastructure face staffing shortfalls and operational gaps. At a moment of heightened global geopolitical tensions, DHS’s cybersecurity mission cannot afford to run at reduced capacity.
The contractors who support TSA checkpoint operations — keeping security lines moving at airports across the country — are not being paid by the federal government. Yet those companies are still meeting payroll for their employees. Absorbing that financial gap indefinitely is not a viable business model, and the government risks losing the very workforce it depends on to keep air travel safe.
America is currently in the peak of tornado season, and hurricane season is weeks away. FEMA contractors who should be ramping up preparedness and response capacity are unable to, creating a risk to communities when severe weather strikes.
Small businesses are bearing an outsized share of the financial burden across all of these missions. Many are continuing to perform and pay their employees while waiting on federal payments that are not coming. For firms operating on thin margins, this is an unsustainable position that threatens both their survival and the government’s long-term industrial base.
“Every day this shutdown continues is another day that America’s security infrastructure weakens,” said Jim Carroll, PSC CEO. “We are asking contractors to hold the line on missions that protect lives — at the airport, on the coast, in the event of a disaster — while Congress fails to fund the work. That is not a sustainable or acceptable position.”
“The government cannot expect contractors to absorb the financial risk of a prolonged shutdown indefinitely,” said Stephanie Kostro, PSC President. “Small businesses in particular are facing impossible choices right now — continue performing and hope for payment, or stop work and risk their contracts. Congress must act before the damage becomes irreversible.”
PSC has released a fact sheet detailing the shutdown’s impact on the federal contractor community, available here.
About the Professional Services Council
The Professional Services Council (PSC) is the leading trade association and advocate for the government contracting industry, representing more than 400 member companies—ranging in size from start-ups to multinational organizations. These companies support federal agencies with mission-focused services and solutions and collectively employ one million American workers throughout the United States and around the world, contributing trillions of dollars to the U.S. economy. Learn more at: www.pscouncil.org.