TSA Shortages Lead To Hours-long Wait Times At Airports
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been shut down for nearly a month after congressional Democrats refused to approve funding for the agency. While the shutdown was caused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) reckless mass-deportation campaign, the downstream effects have led to hours-long wait times at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security checkpoints at several airports.
According to CNN, passengers waited in line at the TSA checkpoint at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport for over three hours on Sunday and Monday. It’s been a similar scene at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, where passengers have waited in TSA lines for up to two hours. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is seeing wait times of up to an hour, with Charlotte Douglas International and George Bush Intercontinental Airport also reporting longer-than-usual TSA wait times.
The New York Times reports that the TSA app, which shows wait times for airport security screening, has been inconsistently updated during the government shutdown. The app showed a 0-15-minute wait at Hobby and Armstrong, when the reality was far longer. Officials at both airports have advised passengers to arrive three to four hours early for their flights due to the extended wait times.
“We’re seeing strong travel demand with fewer screening lanes open at some checkpoints,” Jim Sczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports, said in a social media post on Sunday. “When more passengers meet fewer security lanes, wait times can grow quickly.”
As a result of the DHS shutdown, TSA workers only received 30% of their pay last week. If funding isn’t restored this week, this will be the first missed paycheck for TSA workers. Many TSA workers have taken unscheduled time off to make up for lost pay, which has resulted in fewer security lines at airports. While TSA PreCheck lanes have remained open throughout the shutdown, officials at Hobby Airport said they, too, may be affected by a worker shortage.
DHS posted images of long TSA lines on X over the weekend with a caption accusing Democrats of holding spring break “hostage for political points.”
“These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay,” Lauren Bis, a DHS spokeswoman, said in a statement.
Listen. Kristi Noem just got fired over how poorly she ran DHS. Clearly, some serious issues at the agency need to be handled. If congressional Republicans would actually do their job and act as a check on this administration when it engages in wrongdoing, there wouldn’t have been a need for a shutdown in the first place.
While House Republicans have already passed a measure to end the DHS shutdown, that bill was blocked by Senate Democrats. Funding bills need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, which previously gave Democrats leverage during the October government shutdown over expired tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance. The shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota led to Senate Democrats voting not to fund DHS until they make significant reforms to how they conduct themselves.
Some of the baseline reforms Democrats want are stronger warrant requirements for ICE agents, a ban on federal agents wearing masks, and mandatory body cameras for ICE agents. It’s kind of insane that those guardrails weren’t already in place before ICE began its domestic terror campaign.
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