Overview
- Payments that started Monday followed President Trump’s Friday directive to use existing Homeland Security funds to compensate TSA workers, with the TSA union reporting that some back pay has begun to post.
- Staffing gaps continued over the weekend, with DHS reporting a 10.27% nationwide callout rate Saturday and local spikes near 40% at Houston’s two airports, plus 30% or more at Baltimore, JFK and Atlanta, and roughly 500 quits since mid‑February.
- ICE agents will keep assisting at checkpoints until operations normalize, Tom Homan said Sunday, describing roles such as ID checks and guarding exit lanes that free trained screeners to run X‑ray machines.
- Major airports warned of hours‑long waits, including Houston’s alert of up to four‑hour lines and Atlanta’s advice to arrive four hours early, even as New York’s airports restored posted wait‑time estimates with cautions about rapid changes.
- The shutdown reached day 45 on Monday after the Senate advanced a bill funding most of DHS except ICE and parts of CBP, the House rejected it and passed its own plan, and officials noted training a new TSA officer takes four to six months, slowing any rebound.