Overview
- A partial DHS shutdown took effect this weekend, requiring roughly 95% of TSA personnel to continue reporting for duty without pay.
- TSA’s acting leader and major travel and airline groups warn that last-minute call-outs by unpaid officers could lengthen security lines and lead to missed or delayed flights as spring travel nears.
- The FAA remains funded and air traffic controllers are being paid, which lowers the risk of cancellations tied to air-traffic staffing shortages.
- TSA workers describe ongoing financial strain from last year’s 43-day shutdown, citing attrition and frustration over unclear or unevenly awarded bonuses.
- Congress remains at an impasse over DHS funding tied to immigration enforcement, and with union litigation over bargaining rights continuing, officials caution that localized bottlenecks—especially at single-checkpoint airports—could emerge with little warning.