The author, a supervisory transportation security officer, expresses the financial impact of government shutdowns on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). He notes that roughly 120,000 employees, including around 50,000 TSA officers, have faced uncertainty about their paychecks three times over the past six months and have missed multiple paychecks during this period. The most recent paycheck only covered half of a two-week pay period before the government shutdown affected most of the Department of DHS's front-line components. Many of these officers already live paycheck to paycheck and deductions for insurance, federal and state taxes, FICA, retirement, and other obligations are still taken out. The author acknowledges that the financial strain on federal employees and urges the government to end the shutdown as quickly as possible. He argues that the dedication of these public servants to public service should not be sacrificed in political standoffs.