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Long wait times and hours-long delays are impacting some major airports across the country, as the partial government shutdown reached day 25 Tuesday with no apparent end in sight.Upcoming spring break travel could reach its peak, too, likely upping the chaos for unpaid TSA agents and travelers caught in the mess.Over the weekend, massive crowds and frustrations mounted as long security lines stretched past doors at airports like Houston’s Hobby Airport and at Armstrong International in New Orleans.”I had to weave through a bunch of lines that was actually just one line that wove all around, and we’re like, where does it start, and they’re like, in the garage,” one passenger traveling through New Orleans said.The DHS funding lapse is forcing essential TSA employees to work without pay. Most will miss their first full paychecks this week. And, experts say the government impasse could lead to more agents calling out, raising tensions at already crowded airports. Work to break the gridlock in Washington appears nonexistent. Senate Democrats have blocked DHS funding in an effort to rein in ICE and Customs & Border Patrol (CBP), while proposing to separate funding for TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and cybersecurity as negotiations on immigration continue. “It is true that we are still far apart on the question of ICE. It is also true that there is no reason at all to hold TSA or the Coast Guard or FEMA hostage while our negotiations continue,” Sen. Brian Schatz, (D) Hawaii, said Tuesday. But Republicans accuse Democrats of manufacturing a political crisis and refuse to support Democrats’ proposal to separate funding. “This is reckless. And it’s disingenuous. Here they are telling you they want to see reforms, but I am here to tell you that they have not come to the table,” Sen. Katie Britt, (R) Alabama, said.Democrats have countered, arguing they have been in constant communication with the White House on the issue. “Democrats are shamelessly playing politics with national security, punishing hardworking TSA workers and their families,” a statement from Lauren Bis, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, read. “Enough is enough: stop holding national security and everyday Americans hostage. Democrats must fund DHS now.”Watch the latest coverage on the partial government shutdown:
Long wait times and hours-long delays are impacting some major airports across the country, as the partial government shutdown reached day 25 Tuesday with no apparent end in sight.
Upcoming spring break travel could reach its peak, too, likely upping the chaos for unpaid TSA agents and travelers caught in the mess.
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Over the weekend, massive crowds and frustrations mounted as long security lines stretched past doors at airports like Houston’s Hobby Airport and at Armstrong International in New Orleans.
“I had to weave through a bunch of lines that was actually just one line that wove all around, and we’re like, where does it start, and they’re like, in the garage,” one passenger traveling through New Orleans said.
The DHS funding lapse is forcing essential TSA employees to work without pay. Most will miss their first full paychecks this week. And, experts say the government impasse could lead to more agents calling out, raising tensions at already crowded airports.
Work to break the gridlock in Washington appears nonexistent.
Senate Democrats have blocked DHS funding in an effort to rein in ICE and Customs & Border Patrol (CBP), while proposing to separate funding for TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard, and cybersecurity as negotiations on immigration continue.
“It is true that we are still far apart on the question of ICE. It is also true that there is no reason at all to hold TSA or the Coast Guard or FEMA hostage while our negotiations continue,” Sen. Brian Schatz, (D) Hawaii, said Tuesday.
But Republicans accuse Democrats of manufacturing a political crisis and refuse to support Democrats’ proposal to separate funding.
“This is reckless. And it’s disingenuous. Here they are telling you they want to see reforms, but I am here to tell you that they have not come to the table,” Sen. Katie Britt, (R) Alabama, said.
Democrats have countered, arguing they have been in constant communication with the White House on the issue.
“Democrats are shamelessly playing politics with national security, punishing hardworking TSA workers and their families,” a statement from Lauren Bis, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, read. “Enough is enough: stop holding national security and everyday Americans hostage. Democrats must fund DHS now.”
Watch the latest coverage on the partial government shutdown:
