Democrat Government Shutdown Forces TSA to Suspend All Congressional Courtesy Escorts to “Secure America’s Skies”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced this weekend that all airport courtesy escorts, including those customarily provided to Members of Congress, have been suspended as the Democrat majority continues to hold Homeland Security funding hostage in the ongoing government shutdown.
The controversial shutdown, now entering its second week, stems from Democrats’ refusal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless sweeping changes are made to immigration enforcement policies following earlier clashes over Border Patrol conduct and ICE procedures.
With DHS lacking full appropriations since Feb. 14, the agency has begun scaling back non-essential operations in order to redirect ever-dwindling funds to core missions.
Among those measures, TSA has halted courtesy and special-privilege escorts, the familiar security details that assist lawmakers and VIPs through airports, so that agents can be reassigned to what officials are calling “the mission of securing America’s skies.”
TSA wrote on X:
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly.
Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies.”
Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies.
(2/2)
— TSA (@TSA) February 22, 2026
According to DHS, the suspension is a necessary reallocation of manpower and resources while the shutdown drags on.
Read the press release below:
After a week of being shutdown by Congressional Democrats, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it must take emergency measures to preserve limited funds and personnel to mitigate the national security and public safety damage at the hands of Congressional Democrats.
The Democrats’ decision to put politics over public safety, for a third time this Congress, has forced the Department to direct its components to take the following measures effective at 6 AM ET, February 22, 2026:
- Halting all non-disaster-related Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response efforts to prioritize disaster response;
- Ending Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service;
- Suspending all courtesy and family police escorts at airports for Members of Congress, which is drawing staff away from the critical mission of getting passengers screened.
“This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Shutdowns have real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security. The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians. TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts. FEMA will halt all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters. This is particularly important given this weekend another significant winter storm is forecast to impact the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States.”
A full list of measures being taken are below:
FEMA
FEMA has entered emergency operating status, and is scaling back to bare-minimum, life-saving operations only. Effective 6:00 a.m. on February 22, FEMA will cease all non-essential activities and focus exclusively on immediate disaster response where there is an active threat to life, public health, or safety. As a result:
- Public Assistance will not move forward for ongoing or legacy disasters. FEMA will only carry out Public Assistance activities for new or recent disasters requiring immediate emergency action to protect lives or prevent catastrophic damage.
- All non-emergency recovery work is paused, including project formulation, long-term recovery efforts, planning, and administrative processing that does not address an imminent threat.
- Non-disaster-related activities are halted so limited personnel and resources can be redirected to urgent response operations.
- New initiatives, discretionary programs, pilot efforts, and policy development are suspended until funding is restored.
- Travel, deployments, and operational support are restricted to those strictly necessary to respond to active disasters and life-safety emergencies.
These actions reflect the reality of operating without appropriations. FEMA cannot continue normal recovery operations under these conditions and must prioritize only its most critical, life-saving responsibilities. Full recovery and assistance operations will resume once funding is restored.
TSA
As the Transportation Security Administration enters emergency operating status, resources are being consolidated to prioritize essential security operations and focus personnel on detecting and countering threats.
- Effective at 6:00 a.m. on February 22, nonessential privileges and courtesies provided by TSA will be suspended. All courtesy escorts, including for members of Congress, will cease. These escorts put increased strain on our officers, who must be allowed to prioritize their critical work of screening passengers.
- At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public. As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly. Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies.
Until funding is restored, all travelers should expect a process that does not sacrifice security.
CBP
As of 6:00 am on February 22, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations will halt all Global Entry arrival processing at participating airports.
- Officers assigned to process Global Entry travelers will be re-assigned to process all other arriving travelers.
- U.S. citizens and lawful permanent resident Global Entry Members can proceed to the properly marked primary processing lanes for arriving U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. All other Global Entry members can proceed to the properly marked visitor lanes.
CBP will also be suspending requests for port courtesies for members of Congress at all ports of entry to include escorts and tours in order for personnel to be reassigned to essential border security operations.
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