The Trump government’s latest shutdown began over a month ago, on February 14. This time, it’s a partial shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Since the TSA falls under DHS purview, approximately 50,000 TSA agents are currently working without pay. Many of them have either quit or are calling out sick in order to find other ways to make money. The combination of staffing shortages and a busy spring break travel season has caused the line to get through security at some airports to be hours-long. That’s bad enough as it is, but America’s travel woes could get worse. According to the acting deputy TSA administrator, the call-out rate among agents is so high right now that the agency may have to shut down some small airports.
Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl says the agency is concerned about the growing number of sick calls among TSA officers, which is leading to long security lines at airports across the country.
“If the call rate does climb, there could be scenarios where we may have to shut down airports,” he told CBS News. “This is a serious situation.”
Stahl said the situation will get worse the longer the agency and the Department of Homeland Security don’t receive funding. “This will not get better,” he said.
Hundreds of TSA officers have quit, while the 50,000 who are going to work are living without pay.
“Our people are hurting,” Stahl said. “We have individuals sleeping in their cars, drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work.”
Airport closures, however, did not seem imminent as of early Wednesday – a scenario that is more plausible at small airports.
TSA sick calls have been surging since officers missed a paycheck Friday due to the month-long partial government shutdown. Monday saw the most yet, with more than 10% of officers nationwide calling out – five times more than a typical day.
In Atlanta, over 37% of TSA officers called out sick on Monday, according to the agency, closing one of the checkpoints at the world’s busiest airport. Wait times topped two hours in Atlanta on Tuesday and were at least 103 minutes at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
As staffing drops, more TSA screening lanes will close, and from there, entire checkpoints – making lines and wait times at airports even longer. Three of the six checkpoints at the Philadelphia airport will be closed on Wednesday.
I don’t know if Stahl’s comments reflect a likely scenario or are just bluster to try and force Democrats to cave on their request to rein in ICE and CBP agents, but I can’t imagine how much chaos it would cause if any airports started closing down due to lack of TSA staffing. It would be bad for travelers. The airlines would not be happy about that. It would also be awful for all of the other, non-TSA employees who work at those airports because they would be temporarily out of work too. This is all such a mess. I don’t blame any of these TSA agents for quitting or calling out sick, though. This is the second time in six months that they’re not getting paid, and the cost of living is higher than it was back in October.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been blaming Democrats for the shutdown on social media nonstop. They’re also potentially violating the Hatch Act by playing video messages at airports that say, “You may be experiencing longer-than-average wait times due to the ongoing Democrat shutdown of TSA and the Department of Homeland Security.” All of their propaganda conveniently leaves out the fact that Democrats have proposed bills that fund the TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard, but Republicans have blocked them at least five times. Like I said, it’s a mess.
Ugh I hate this so much because I want ICE to be reined in and unmasked, but I am afraid Republicans are winning the messaging battle. Democrats have to figure out a way to make it crystal clear that the Trump administration is the one making TSA agents suffer for no good reason, and how do you do that when the agents and the travelers waiting in line for three hours are being blasted with nonstop video anouncements that this is a “Democrat shutdown?” Somebody smarter than me pleeeease figure this out!
So there is money for videos blaming Democrats but NOT money to pay hard working people? And I don’t care about all the ‘policy’ arguments. The Trump Admin has broken every other norm, rule, and law. They could bulldoze through another and pay TSA!
They are not potentially violating the Hatch act, they are grossly violating the Hatch act. Just the same way that they’re Twitter, which they’re sending out on official government channels, and some of the websites are also being altered to be aggressively, inappropriately, and illegally political.