If Congress fails to pass a new spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security by Feb. 27, resulting in a shutdown of the department that includes the Coast Guard and FEMA, towns in eastern Connecticut could be delayed in getting reimbursed for blizzard cleanup.

The department is running on a continuing resolution until then because of a standoff in Congress.

FEMA became part of DHS in March 2003. In Connecticut, the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) administers federal emergency management and homeland security grant programs, including disaster aid.

Several local towns have submitted FEMA requests for snow removal costs to DEMHS. Norwich Comptroller Josh Pothier said that he sent an estimate of $329,800 to DEMHS. East Lyme, New London and Stonington have also submitted requests to DEMHS for FEMA reimbursements. Some local towns have indicated that they are currently compiling numbers to see if they meet the threshold for a reimbursement.

"Processing those applications will definitely be delayed," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told The Day on Monday.

"For local snow budgets that is compounding the problem," U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said Wednesday.

Courtney said FEMA also funds "a lot of state positions for emergency services."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Thursday that FEMA has granted his request to extend the deadline to file a presidential disaster declaration request for the January blizzard to March 28. Malloy said that DEMHS will be coordinating preliminary damage assessments with FEMA and the towns and cities most affected by the blizzard to determine the next steps for a Disaster Declaration Request.

A shutdown would suspend, among other programs, FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, created after 9/11 to help fire departments upgrade equipment, Courtney said. He added that New London just received a grant for new fire hoses within the last few months.

According to Blumenthal's office, Connecticut received approximately $4 million in funding from the Homeland Security Grant Program in 2014, and approximately $5 million in funding from the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program in 2014.

Personnel deemed non-essential would be furloughed under a shutdown.

"The essential workers will be there but they will lack support the others provide," Blumenthal said. As an example, he said, all of the civilian staff at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, which is about one-third of the total 700 people on staff, "will be furloughed."

The standoff in Congress doesn't have to do with the DHS bill itself but rather President Barack Obama taking executive action to push through his immigration policy. House Republicans have passed a funding bill for the department that would block Obama's actions.

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas ruled Tuesday to temporarily halt implementation of Obama's order. Republicans in Congress have used the ruling to further argue for their version of the DHS budget.

Senate Democrats, including Blumenthal, have said that they want to vote on a clean funding bill for the department. They have blocked the version of the bill passed by the House, which needs 60 votes to proceed in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, released a statement on the ruling, saying, "Senate Democrats - especially those who've voiced opposition to the President's executive overreach - should end their partisan filibuster of Department of Homeland Security funding."

Blumenthal had a different take.

"The order completely undercuts their arguments," he said. "The president's executive action is not effective for the moment and there's no guarantee when it will be effective. If they're correct and it should be invalidated by the courts, there's no reason for them to hold hostage the Department of Homeland Security."

Immigration aside, lawmakers aren't debating "over the top line of the budget or how it's configured in terms of how the money is going to be distributed," Courtney said.

"That's totally been worked out on a bipartisan basis, on a bicameral basis. The only impediment to getting this done is the non-budget-related policy issue of dealing with the president's executive order. If you excise that provision this thing could move in the blink of an eye," Courtney said.

If a shutdown occurs, Courtney said, that would discount a pledge made by McConnell that there will be no government shutdowns or defaults. McConnell was quoted in Time magazine in November as saying "there is no possibility of a government shutdown. Remember me? I'm the guy that gets us out of government shutdowns."

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: JuliaSBergman