Here's a situation nobody at the airport wants: the people checking your ID and running the scanners aren't getting paid. That's the reality right now for about 63,000 TSA agents, thanks to a Department of Homeland Security funding shutdown. And the airline industry's main lobbyist is getting on the horn to Washington, basically saying: figure this out, and fast.
Chris Sununu, the CEO of Airlines for America and former governor of New Hampshire, put it bluntly in a recent interview. "The airlines didn't ask for this. We have nothing to do with the political disputes there," he said. His hope? That the whole mess gets cleaned up "maybe the first week in April, at most, when the new secretary comes in." That new secretary is Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma whose confirmation Sununu sees as a potential path to compromise.
So what's the holdup? It's a classic Washington standoff, this time over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Democrats want funding tied to certain reforms—things like requiring judicial warrants for some operations, putting body cameras on officers, and ditching face masks. Republicans, on the other hand, just want to fund all of DHS's agencies, no strings attached. To try and at least get the TSA folks paid, Democrats proposed funding everything except ICE and Customs and Border Protection. That effort got blocked.
The result is that TSA employees are showing up to work but not seeing a paycheck. Unsurprisingly, that's starting to slow things down at airports across the country. It's the kind of operational friction that drives airlines nuts.
The human impact is showing up in some pretty stark ways. Airports are essentially putting out a call for help. Denver International Airport asked the public for grocery and gas gift cards for its unpaid TSA staff. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opened a food pantry. Meanwhile, major hubs like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and airports in New Orleans are advising travelers to arrive extra early because wait times have become unpredictable.
Adding to the confusion was a recent near-miss with the trusted traveler programs. Last month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had planned to suspend TSA PreCheck and Global Entry enrollments. After a swift and loud backlash from the travel industry, she reversed the decision on PreCheck. Global Entry, however, is still facing delays. Sununu called the original suspension notice "deeply concerning," mainly because it would have given travelers virtually no time to adjust their plans.
The pressure is coming from other corners, too. Last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized Democrats over the shutdown, pointing to a letter from Airlines for America that urged Congress to pay TSA employees and end the funding delays.
For now, the lines are getting longer, the workers aren't getting paid, and the airline industry's message to Capitol Hill is simple: end this quickly.
