Air travelers are facing record wait times at the Transportation Security Administration, the acting head said Wednesday, as a new funding proposal to address a standoff and limit President Trump’s deportation agenda faces strong opposition in Congress.
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At a House Homeland Security committee hearing that stretched over three hours, lawmakers and Transportation Security Administration officials stressed the urgency of the ongoing government shutdown as TSA workers scrape by without pay and long security lines wind through some airports.
The shutdown may force TSA to consider closing some airports until funding resumes, said Ha Nguyen McNeill, the agency’s acting administrator. She said multiple airports are experiencing callout rates higher than 40%, and air travelers are experiencing the TSA’s highest wait times ever.
But on the 40th day of the DHS budget standoff, there’s still no easy way out in sight.
Googlebright on March 25th, 2026 at 22:53 UTC »
As a Canadian, it still blows my mind that an American government can fail to pass a budget and not only will it NOT trigger an election but federal workers are expected to continue working without pay???
How the fuck did Americans ever accept this?
Lonely_Noyaaa on March 25th, 2026 at 20:18 UTC »
TSA officers are expected to show up and work without a paycheck because calling out means losing your job, and now we're being told that might not even be enough to keep the airports open.
AlyadaHatchet on March 25th, 2026 at 20:05 UTC »
The actual work of the TSA aside, not paying your employees in a US where most folks are paycheck to paycheck without the ability to absorb multiple missing paychecks.... The fuck did y'all think was gonna happen?
Everything is getting more expensive, and missing income while still having bills is rough.
There's so many ways for the poor to get poorer. These interruptions have long term consequences, and rarely to the people who are making the decisions.