TSA faces longest wait times in history amid DHS shutdown
TSA experiencing longest wait times in its 24-year history due to ongoing DHS shutdown, with staff callouts 40-50% at major airports.
Objective Facts
DHS funding lapsed February 14, causing a shutdown lasting over five weeks. TSA Deputy Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified to House Homeland Security Committee on March 26 that wait times have exceeded four hours at major airports, with employee callout rates of 40-50%. More than 480 TSA employees have quit since the shutdown began. There has been a 500% increase in assaults against TSA officers since shutdown began. Trump deployed ICE agents to major airports on Monday as a controversial aid measure.
Left-Leaning Perspective
Senate Democrats say they do not want to give ICE any funding until the White House agrees to more sweeping changes to how officers operate. Democrats have offered seven proposals to fund TSA through various means while Trump deploys untrained ICE agents. Since the deadly shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, Democrats have been clear that they will not fund immigration enforcement operations without reforms. Democrats object to ICE deployment, saying ICE agents lack necessary training and the presence of ICE follows a record of aggressive immigration crackdown, particularly after federal officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Democrats argue ICE agents performing TSA work will not make airports safer and may engage in harassment of travelers and immigration enforcement. Democrats demand reforms including requiring judicial warrants for immigration agents to enter homes and businesses and a ban on face coverings for agents. Democrats frame the stalemate as Republicans refusing to fund TSA workers unless ICE enforcement operations are fully funded. Republicans say Democrats have moved the goalposts by pressing for reforms in a package that would not include new funding for enforcement and removal operations. Democrats counter that they have been consistent in seeking these reforms since Minneapolis shootings, and that ICE officers are being paid despite the shutdown because ICE has access to $75 billion in separate funds from Congress last summer.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Republicans emphasize that Senate Democrats have denied over 80,000 American families more than $1 billion in take-home pay while they continue working, calling this "unconscionable." Trump administration representatives say Democrats' shutdown is causing TSA officers to go without pay, inflicting "unneeded financial hardship." Republicans contend the shutdown is entirely Democrats' fault. Senate Majority Leader John Thune argues that "a lot of the reforms are contingent on funding for ICE" and questions how Democrats can demand reforms without funding the agency. Lankford complained that Democrats repeatedly demand new concessions, saying "This has been the story of the entire time — one more thing, one more thing, one more thing." Republican Senator Rick Scott argues he doesn't understand why fellow Republicans are cutting ICE's budget, asking "Why would you just fund a part of government, especially when they don't want to fund the part that protects Americans from illegal aliens that are committing crimes?" White House Press Secretary said Trump sent ICE agents to alleviate stress on TSA, and that "wait times have improved since ICE arrived." Republicans frame ICE deployment as practical, life-serving solution to an immediate crisis created by Democratic obstruction.
Deep Dive
The DHS shutdown began February 14, 2026, and is now in its 40th day, leaving roughly 61,000 TSA employees working without pay. The funding impasse stems from Democratic demands for ICE reforms after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis in January 2026. Notably, ICE and CBP have already received $165 billion in separate funding from last summer's spending bill—$75 billion to ICE alone and $64 billion to CBP—allowing them to operate despite the shutdown while TSA remains unfunded. Both sides have merit in their framing. Democrats correctly identify that ICE has alternative funding sources and that meaningful oversight of enforcement agencies serves legitimate public interests following documented civilian deaths. The deployment of ICE to airport security, while operationally defensible for crowd management, plausibly does risk mission creep into immigration enforcement in airports, particularly given Trump's public statements suggesting ICE "may make immigration arrests while assisting at airports." Republicans fairly point out that Democrats have had multiple opportunities to fund TSA-only measures and that their continued linkage of TSA funding to ICE reforms—rather than accepting the GOP offer to fund 94% of DHS—prolongs worker hardship. However, Republicans have not explained why ICE must be fully funded as-is without any reforms, especially given the Minneapolis deaths and available alternative funding. The second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues as Democrats and Republicans traded proposals this week that haven't closed the divide, with Trump saying Tuesday he was "not happy" with the GOP plan. Congress is facing pressure to resolve the issue before a scheduled two-week recess beginning Friday, with Senate Majority Leader Thune suggesting the recess could be canceled if unresolved. TSA training takes four to six months, meaning new hires won't be available before the FIFA World Cup starting in June, adding urgency for immediate resolution. The unresolved question is whether Congress will reach a compromise on ICE's role and oversight, or whether Democrats will shift strategy entirely by abandoning ICE reforms in exchange for TSA-only funding.