Funding TSA won’t fix long airport lines overnight

Key Points:

• President Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers amid the partial government shutdown, and the Senate unanimously moved to fund most of DHS, but it remains unclear when paychecks will be delivered or when full staffing will resume.
• Approximately 61,000 TSA employees have been working without pay since February 14, facing severe financial hardships such as missed bills, evictions, and repossessions, which has led to increased absenteeism and long security lines at airports.
• TSA call-out rates have surged from a typical 4% to as high as 40-50% in some airports, with nearly 500 workers quitting during the shutdown, raising concerns about retaining experienced personnel despite recent pay raises.
• Federal employees, including TSA workers, are guaranteed back pay once the shutdown ends, but union leaders and experts warn it may take days or weeks for airport security operations to return to normal levels.
• Legislative efforts like the Shutdown Fairness Act and the Keep America Flying Act aim to ensure federal workers are paid during funding lapses, but none have advanced recently; experts and officials call for bipartisan solutions to prevent such disruptions in critical services.