This doesn’t strike me as being terribly logical, or as a winning strategy politically… but maybe it’ll get reversed within hours, kind of like that El Paso Airport (ELP) shut down (update: yeah, that’s exactly what happened, at least partially)?
DHS shuts down TSA PreCheck & Global Entry with bad logic
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is suspending both the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs (which offer expedited security and immigration, respectively). This applies as of 6AM ET on Sunday, February 22, 2026. To be clear, we’re not just talking about enrollment being suspended, but we’re talking about actual use of the programs being suspended.
This is being blamed on the current partial government shutdown that we’re seeing, which is due to Democrats and the White House being unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund the DHS, with Democrats demanding changes to immigration operations that are key to President Trump’s deportation efforts. During shutdowns, government employees may not be paid, so the concern is that fewer workers will show up.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said in a statement that “shutdowns have serious real world consequences,” and “TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts.”
Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security have criticized this decision, saying that the Trump administration is “kneecapping the programs that make travel smoother and secure,” and is accusing the Trump administration of “ruining your travel on purpose.”
This is intended to punish the public, make a point
Let’s take politics out of this for a moment. The intent of TSA PreCheck and Global Entry is that it expedites the security and immigration processes, by granting these privileges to prescreened travelers. So it doesn’t just save travelers time, but it also saves those performing the screening services time… it’s more efficient for everyone!
TSA PreCheck lanes screen more people her hour than standard screening lanes, since the screening standards aren’t quite as strict. The same is true for Global Entry, where much of the work with clearing travelers is done by machines.
So if you have concerns about staffing shortages — as is being claimed here — keeping those services open should be a priority. Like, I don’t need to write another 10 paragraphs about this, because it’s that simple… that’s just the truth.
If you need to screen 100 travelers and have fixed resources, would you rather have a system where each passenger takes two minutes to be screened, or a system where half of the passengers take two minutes to be screened, and the other half take one minute to be screened? Because that’s what’s happening here.
Would anyone like to make a counterpoint (other than accusing others of having “TDS”)? What Noem is saying here is complete drivel:
- “Shutdowns have serious real world consequences” — you’re right that they do, but this one that you’re manufacturing isn’t among them
- “TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry” — okay, then keep the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs going, because screening those passengers more efficiently will leave more time to screen the “general traveling population”
Bottom line
The Trump administration has shut down the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs. This is being done due to the partial government shutdown, and the claim is that this is so that screeners can focus on the general population of travelers. That makes no sense, though — TSA PreCheck and Global Entry require less staffing than standard lanes, so this will make the situation worse for the average traveler, and not better.
Would anyone care to defend this policy? Can anyone help me understand Noem’s math or logic?
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