Tsa Airports face a shutdown paradox: longer lines, unpaid screeners, and a push to bring ICE into security roles
At tsa airports, the Department of Homeland Security funding lapse is colliding with day-to-day travel in a visible way: staffing shortages are worsening, wait times are stretching into multiple hours at some locations, and the federal government’s screening workforce is missing paychecks while being told to keep working.
What is changing at Tsa Airports as DHS funding stalls?
President Donald Trump threatened to use Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to staff airports if a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security is not passed. The warning came as delays and security staffing shortages continue to worsen, and as airport conditions have grown increasingly unpredictable at some of the country’s biggest airports.
A bill that would fund DHS and provide payments for Transportation Security Administration agents at airports failed to advance in the Senate on Friday. On Saturday, Trump posted that ICE agents would be empowered to do “Security like no one has ever seen before, ” including “the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country. ” He added there would be an emphasis on Somalian immigrants. In another post Saturday, Trump blamed Democrats and the “radical left” for the standoff in Congress over DHS funding, reiterated sending ICE to airports, and wrote he had already told them to “GET READY. ”
As the political pressure escalates, practical warnings have also emerged. Officials have warned that some smaller airports could be forced to close due to staffing shortages, and wait times are not expected to improve until government funding is restored and Transportation Security Administration officers receive paychecks. The TSA screens passengers and luggage for hazardous items.
How severe are the delays and staffing absences right now?
The lines are not uniform nationwide, but the reported examples show a level of disruption that is hard for travelers to plan around. Wait times have stretched into multiple hours at some airports, with passengers in cities like Houston, Atlanta, and New Orleans describing delays long enough to miss flights.
The staffing problems are tied to the pay disruption. TSA officers missed their first full paycheck last weekend, and absences are climbing nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security said. At an airport in Houston, more than half of scheduled staff were absent on Sunday. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 38% of officers missed work on Wednesday and 32% on Thursday.
Concrete wait-time snapshots underscore what travelers are encountering at checkpoints. TSA reported a 120-minute wait at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston early Friday afternoon. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reported an 80-minute wait time at its main checkpoint.
There is also churn inside the workforce itself. More than 300 TSA employees have left the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown, adding another layer to the shortage beyond daily absenteeism.
Who is offering fixes, and what do they imply for the future of tsa airports?
Several actors are now positioning themselves around the same stress point: TSA’s ability to staff checkpoints during the funding lapse. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would offer an alternative measure during a rare weekend session Saturday to fund just the TSA, though that effort is likely to fail. Democrats declined to provide the support needed to move the broader DHS funding measure toward final passage.
Outside government, billionaire Elon Musk said in a social media post Saturday morning that he would pay the salaries of TSA workers during the impasse, writing that the funding lapse is “negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country. ”
Within the TSA, leadership described acute hardship among employees who are still reporting for duty. The vast majority of TSA employees are considered essential and continue to work during the government funding lapse, even without pay. Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl said earlier this week, “Our people are hurting, ” adding that some individuals are sleeping in their cars and drawing blood to afford gas.
In this environment, passengers are also becoming visible stakeholders in the policy standoff. At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Friday, Corinne Gunter urged lawmakers to act, saying, “Get it passed. Work together. Come together so that we can continue to pay our people and care for the folks who keep our nation running. ”
The conflict now sits at the intersection of three competing approaches to keeping tsa airports functioning: restoring federal funding so TSA officers receive paychecks; pursuing a narrow measure to fund only the TSA; or shifting airport security staffing toward ICE under a threatened deployment that also explicitly frames airport presence as a vehicle for immigration arrests. With officials warning that some smaller airports could be forced to close, and with wait times not expected to improve until funding is restored, the immediate trajectory remains tied to congressional action and the duration of the DHS funding lapse.
