While most of us are now back to work after the holidays, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are either off the job or working without a paycheck due to the partial government shutdown.
TSA employees have been working throughout the shutdown to keep our family and friends traveling for the holidays.
According to the left-leaning American Progress, more than 7,000 Arizonans are either furloughed or coming to work without pay.
Juan Casarez is one such employee. Casarez is a TSA agent and heads up the Arizona branch of the American Federation of Government Employees Union.
"It’s kind of hard to say how long this will drag on and how much of an effect it’s really going to have on us," Casarez said. "If it goes over 30 days it’s going to have a very big impact."
Casarez said so far TSA employees have only missed around eight hours of pay thanks to the government shutdown, but that will change if the shutdown does not end.
"What do we do next? Where is the next paycheck going to come from? A lot is at stake," he said.
Casarez said most TSA employees do not have a lot of money held in reserve in case of an extended government shutdown.
"Think about us. Think about the workforce. Think about their families," he said.
Casarez says TSA agents do have a letter to give creditors who come calling. He says some are trying to work with people like him who may be furloughed.
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is also working with TSA employees on a contingency plan if the shutdown does last more than 30 days.