We’re now several weeks into the latest partial government shutdown, which means many federal workers aren’t receiving paychecks. Perhaps the most public impacts of this are felt at airports, and there are some statistics that I think are worth covering.
Continue reading: TSA Chaos: One Airport Had 55% Of Security Screeners Call In Sick
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Politics of it all aside, it does seem pretty dumb to withhold funding from agencies in DHS like the TSA over ICE reforms when the democrats already allowed ICE to be fully funded this year, as is.
Incorrect. The Democrats (I'm not one) proposed a stand-alone bill to fully fund TSA. The Republicans rejected it, insisting it be tied to broader DHS funding. This was just in the past week.
It will be resolved as soon as some Congress loser gets stuck in a long TSA line (even PreCheck).
Be interesting if TSA just opened the lines and sent everyone through without checks/scans for a few days..
it is correct. Sorry Jack. Broaden your news sources. And yes. Denying funding across DHS is equally dumb as only TSA when the reason is ICE, which it is. ICE is fully funded and will be for some time.
The first step, which is being discussed, is to fund everything except for ICE which itself was funded through the end of this administration last year.
The next step is to remove the ability to withhold government worker pay during government shutdowns if they are required to show up for work. Yes, it defeats the purpose of withholding funding but everyday people should not be used as hostages in bipartisan bickering.
Long security lines are bound to hurt airlines that have hubs at airports being most affected. WN, for one, certainly wants this all to end.
So far today, B6 says capacity is down due to previous winter storns and fuel is up - about $3/gal is the current industry thinking for the quarter. DL reaffirmed its previous earnings guidance for the quarter based on strong revenue which offsets about $400 million in extra fuel costs for the quarter - even w/ a higher refinery benefit than for 2026 (1st quarter 2025 was stronger than 2025 as a whole and growing MRO revenues). DL expects profit sharing for the 1Q2026 to exceed 1Q2025.
Sitting "public servants" of American citizens are refusing to fund the government that serves American citizens unless an agency that removes from America non-American citizens that are in America illegally is defunded. Where is FBI? Why has nobody been arrested yet?
Jim, you and your MAGAt friends are too ignorant to realize the Dems are willing to fund TSA. Sign the bill! End the Trump Shutdown.
Yes, “broaden your news sources” says the definitely American definitely human person! Any more hot takes, comrade?
This will all be resolved when a couple more Republican jerks leave Congress. I am happy to stay home if that's what is needed to stop the detention and shooting of innocent US citizens. I can't wait until we have a government that believes in following the Constitution. That glorious day in 2029 cannot come soon enough.
UA NYC- At the expense of the US taxpayers by extending billions of dollars in health care and education. No, we are NOT ok with giving illegals a free ride while our vets get nothing.
America is getting everything we voted for. Wars everywhere. Complete loss of civility. Gas prices through the roof. Inflation unresolved. Slowing economy. American criminals who tried to overthrow the government wandering the streets. Pedophiles and sex traffickers running free. 'Merica!!!
Jim is cool spending billions to actively end the lives of Iranians and other GCC nations but not to save a single foreigner within the borders. Teachings of Jesus, indeed.
How about not allowing sick passengers ?
How about requiring passengers to wear masks ?
How about ending the ludicrous permissions for disease-ridden dogs amongst the pax ?
Yes, I’m all for defending ourselves against a country that wants to wipe my country and Israel off the face of the planet.
And YES! I am against funding illegal criminals!
Sadly that might be the best retaliation to funding games.
We're just one deadly incident away post security from getting funding right back.
"I can't wait until we have a government that believes in following the Constitution. That glorious day in 2029 cannot come soon enough."
It's difficult to imagine an individual being this naive.
Another problem caused by government. Oh, but we "need" them to perform these services. No, actually, we don't.
Congress can get an escort to use the crew line so this doesnt impact them. Thats why its gone on so long
Wonder if those who don’t skip the work during the shutdown will get 10k again just like last time.
Didn't we fight a civil war on people being forced to work without pay? Also, consider what would be done BY THE GOVERNMENT if any company fo4ced people to work without pay!
POLITICIANS - MAKIN THE WORLD SAFE FOR HYPOCRASY!
Actually no, the Democrats want to de-fund ICE, which is part of Homeland Security, and won't sign off on the bill until they get that concession. I'm guessing that won't happen anytime soon..
The 10K was more hypocrisy- although used as a PR Gambit, LESS THAN 7% OF TSA EMPLOYEES WERE SELECTER to get that money. That was for the press reports and NOT for the vast majority of TSA Employees!
They have put up bills that would do that something like 6 times in the last week. Republicans won't vote for it -- they insist on all-or-nothing funding for all of DHS with no changes to the Gestapo (ICE). This is 100% on Republicans.
Or FUND EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE POLITICIANS until they learn to compromise and do their jobs!
Is this what MSNBC told you to think? We pay some of the lowest gas prices in the world.. if you hate America so much, why don't you move to Hong Kong, where gas is over $14/gal.. or maybe Germany at over $8/gal!
You uninformed liberals need to spend a week or two in Iran, or Somalia, and see just how bad we have it! Get a grip and grow up!
"Didn't we fight a civil war on people being forced to work without pay?"
No, we didn't!
so the Democrats voted for or allowed ICE to be funded through the end of the Trump administration and now the Democrats regret that. So the response is to deny funding to most of the rest of DHS -- things like airport safety and other areas that keep America safe?
Sorry. No. that's dumb to link their regret about ICE to unrelated parts of DHS
Your reply is factually lacking information, jack. Stop pretending that it somehow makes sense to withhold funding from most of DHS due to regret with prior votes about ICE
I think I pay federal taxes for every airline ticket purchased ? Doesn't those taxes paid by the pax mean they already have their pay ?
Oh I didn't realize the daily cost of fighting Iran was free. I guess the gop was right to block the democrats from trying to stop it 2 weeks ago with war power restrictions on a President who just felt like sending missiles into another country without consulting Allies but expects them to help AFTER the fact.
Enjoy the cost of living over the next 3 months. I don't care. I'm retired comfortably and I spend most of my time away from this crazy place now.
The fbi is allegedly busy with the epstein files. But don't worry nobody will be arrested there either so no need to use a lot of tax dollars. Just a few here and there for flying off and celebrating with hockey teams
"if any company fo4ced people to work without pay!"
They're called tipped workers.
And we pay our taxes to have weapons to defend our borders.
Why is it sent continents away from our border just to make domestic gas and grocery prices go up.
Heck I thought that's the unpublished whole point of taking over Venezuela, so ME conflict wouldn't drive up our oil prices so much.
And Mark is pulling a conservative strawman.
You're both victim of propaganda.
And you seem to be more brainwashed than Parker.
Putting aside the specific reason Democrats are withholding DHS funding, if they succeed is backing the Republicans down we'll see this approach by every minority party going forward. In effect, the minority will have a line item veto so long as they have 41 seats in the Senate. Its a recipe for perpetual gridlock even worse than we have now, with a loss of majority rights....an expressly anti-democracy outcome. Whether you hate or love ICE, this isn't the way to address that issue.
Mark, I think we should defund the corrupt, decadent and incompetent police, TSA and the DMV. They don't give a damn about you anyway.
Shutting down some airports, airlines get nowhere to fly, fleet sitting on the ground, then they will bring down the ticket prices
Internationally the TV news is counting the Trump ways. The other day it was Denver airport TSA agents asking for food handouts. Yes that is sad. But imagine the news world wide, he is spending Billions per day. China internet is taking advantage of that.
He can bomb put he can't pay his own people.
Its a very low situation.
@Mark F
Didn't we already see it with the obstructionist GOP Congress during Obama's second term? That cat's out of the bag.
And I disagree that this isn't the way to address it. This is democracy in action. Compromise is necessary. The GOP refuses to compromise, despite not having a majority large enough to pass things without bipartisan support. Seems a no-brainer here. You want to pass things without a 60 vote majority, kill the filibuster. Only problem there is that Republican politicians understand that their agenda is massively unpopular, so last thing they want to do is pass those things when they and they alone would be held accountable for it.
The other thing they could do is revisit the Carter DOJ decision that reversed 200 years of keeping the government running on the prior appopriation levels until new appropriations could be passed and led directly to the GOP weaponization of shutdowns from the '90s onward. But they won't do that either because they *like* weaponizing these shutdowns.
My brother flew out to Japan from ATL yesterday. He followed some of the online advice to go around to the international terminal for shorter lines, only to find that most everybody had done the same. Multi-hour lines at 7 AM. He didn't know it yet but it really didn't matter how long he got stuck in line, since DL295 got delayed first by somebody destroying a toilet and then by a missing flight attendant for what I assume was a replacement crew. All-in-all, his flight departed 8 hours late and he's only just about to land at Haneda now.
I'm not looking forward to the lines when my wife and I fly out for our honeymoon next week. Hopefully getting there before 6AM will help.
TSA is a waste anyway. It sucks that this is holding up airports, but we should just dissolve the security facade.
Yesterday I flew from PNS and the Pre line was empty, just me, quickest ever, while the regular line had like 10 people. I connected in IAH and walked close to the Terminal E TSA security point and the speakers were asking for patience with delays.
TSA already stopped the perk that congress people have of bypassing all lines, but the airlines took the relay and escort these politicians to the front of the TSA line. If the privileged democrat officials had to spend hours in line, this "boycotting" the funding would end in a New York minute.
BTW, I screwed up earlier this week. I had forgotten I opted for Touchless ID for precheck with AA and could have used it a DFW to avoid a rather long precheck line in terminal D. That would have been fun. I cleared passport control without showing my passport, and could have done the same for TSA.
I've rethought this. Staying in the regular precheck lane only cost me 15 minutes of club time before my flight. My saved 15 minutes would be borne by others. So, in this environment, I'm glad I didn't do it.
Its not Mr. Trump who is not paying. The President has no power to pay anything. It is the Congress, and in this case specifically the Senate. The Democrats want to disolve ICE so they are refusing to vote to fund the DHS. Crazy enough is that ICE is funded through the end of this year aleady, so their holdout is purely theatrical to try to make Mr. Trump look bad. This whole fiasco is 100% the fault of Chuck Shumer and his cronies.
The President cannot fund anything. Only the Congress can authorize spending. Read the Constitution. Its not that long.
Hey UA-NYC. . .
The problem is you and your socialist morons are trying to deflect the blame (again). Classic projection — blame the other guy for exactly what you are doing! Dem Socialists are only willing to fund TSA “IF” they get their way and the Dem Socialist bill to defund ICE is passed. Otherwise, it’s gonna be maximum pain and punishment — and blaming the other guy when Dem Socialists are the ones holding TSA paychecks hostage!