Obama administration pressures Congress to extend Homeland Security budget before deadline
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), joined by other members of the House Democratic caucus, speaks during a news conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol February 13, 2015 in Washington, DC. House Democrats held the news conference to call on House Republicans to pass a "clean" funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (2015 Getty Images)
President Barack Obama's chief of staff is pressuring the Republican-run Congress to extend funding for the Homeland Security Department after Feb. 27 — when its budget will shut off.
Denis McDonough tells CBS' "Face the Nation" that Congress would keep getting paid, but vital employees at the border and airports — among other places — would have to work without pay while the funding dispute lingers.
Most department employees fall into exempted categories of workers who stay on the job in a shutdown because they perform work considered necessary to protect human life and property.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}About 200,000 of the agency's approximately 230,000 employees would keep working even if Congress fails to fund their agency.
The agency's budget is caught up in a Capitol Hill fight over the president's immigration actions.