PORTLAND, Maine — A government shutdown is looking more and more likely as lawmakers have yet to pass a bill to extend funding past a critical deadline on Saturday.
A shutdown would impact millions of federal employees and the roughly 13,000 of them in Maine—including those working for the Transportation Security Administration.
"In the case of a shutdown we'll still be here," William Reiley said, the regional vice president for Local 2617 of The American Federation of Government Employees, which is the union representing TSA workers at Maine's airports.
Reiley said although employees will have to work, they won't be paid.
"The impact is how much money you have in the bank," Reiley told NEWS CENTER Maine.
However, Reiley added there won’t be much of an impact on travelers going through security.
"You’ll be just as safe as you were before the shutdown," he said. "It just means that the workers aren’t getting paid so they may be under a little more stress than usual.”
According to the Biden Administration, past government shutdowns have caused significant delays and increased wait times for travelers at airports around the country.