TSA officers keep showing up to work even though they haven’t seen a full paycheck in weeks. Many have now missed several paychecks during this Department of Homeland Security funding standoff.
American travelers are spending hours in security check lines and missing flights because the Democrats are refusing to fund the DHS.
And now the Democrats are admitting their refusal to fund the Department of Homeland Security is “making people hurt.”
Axios reported:
House Democrats are launching a Hail Mary push to effectively end the Department of Homeland Security’s now month-long shutdown by funding all of its sub-agencies except ICE and Customs and Border Protection.
Why it matters: Democrats are feeling the heat as federal workers miss paychecks and DHS warns of airport closures. They hope their planned discharge petition will, at the very least, deflect blame onto Republicans.
- Many lawmakers also question whether keeping the agency shut down is meaningfully incentivizing the White House to negotiate in good faith on immigration enforcement reforms.
- “It’s not forcing any change,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “In the meantime, we’re making people hurt. The long lines, that can’t make us more popular.”
- “We’re on the right side on ICE, but not on the rest.”
Rent is still due, groceries aren’t free, and bills don’t care that Washington can’t reach a deal. These dedicated men and women continue to scan bags and check passengers so Americans can fly safely, all while their bank accounts run dry.
Over 260,000 DHS employees face that reality right now, while over 61,000 of them work for the TSA. Hundreds have already quit as the pressure builds. Lines at airports stretch longer every day as spring break travel ramps up across the country. Families trying to catch flights end up paying for decisions made far away from the terminal.
Union leaders and federal officials say these are just some of the financial pressures Transportation Security Administration agents are facing during an ongoing government funding lapse — the third shutdown in less than six months that has forced the officers who screen airport passengers and luggage to keep working without pay.
The public is experiencing the consequences in long wait times at some airports as more TSA officers take time off to earn money on the side or cut back on expenses. At least 376 have quit their jobs altogether since the shutdown began on Valentine’s Day, according to the Department of Homeland Security, exacerbating staff turnover at an agency that historically has had some of the U.S. government’s highest attrition and lowest employee morale.
“It’s just exhausting. Every day it just feels like this weight gets heavier and heavier on us,” Cameron Cochems, a local TSA union leader in Boise, Idaho, told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, members of Congress continue collecting their salaries on time; they never have to wonder how they’ll cover rent or groceries if a paycheck doesn’t arrive. Even better for them, most never stand in the same TSA lines as everyone else.
Lawmakers receive escorts through airports or move to the front of the line; they pass right by the delays and frustration that regular travelers face.
There was a key vote on DHS funding that 16 senators missed, leaving fewer voices in the room while the crisis deepened. Their absence didn’t affect their paychecks, and it didn’t shorten the lines at airport security. It simply showed how little urgency exists for those who remain insulated from the consequences.
The Senate voted 47-37 on Friday to fund DHS.
60 votes are required to pass the measure.
“Senate for a 5th time blocked Homeland Security Department funding legislation to reopen DHS partially shutdown for 35 days. 60 votes are needed. Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote Yes 16 Senators missed the vote that was held open for over two hours,” CSPAN Capitol Hill producer Craig Caplan said.
“16 Senators missed today’s DHS funding vote: 7 Republicans: Britt, Daines, Fischer, Paul, Sheehy, Tuberville, and Wicker. 9 Democrats: Coons, Gallego, Kaine, Kelly, Klobuchar, Schiff, Shaheen, Smith and Whitehouse,” he added.
This week on the Senate floor, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spoke about Americans living paycheck to paycheck. As the dust settled from his oft-repeated diatribe, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) pointed directly at the more than 250,000 DHS workers who aren’t receiving pay. One senator described hardship in broad terms. The other focused on workers who are living it in real time while still reporting for duty.
“We have 260,000 families that have not received a paycheck in over a month,” said Senator Moreno.“260,000 American citizen-families who have not received a paycheck in over a month. None of those people are in charge of policy. There’s not one of those families that makes policy decisions, for the most part, that’s on the people here. There isn’t a single human being on this dais that has missed a paycheck. Every single one of us has gotten a paycheck the last 30 days and before that. And yet we sit here and do political theater.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have openly acknowledged that the strategy involves creating enough pressure to force movement, an admission that matters because it confirms what many already suspected. Real families are being squeezed as part of a political fight, while the people making those choices continue life without disruption.
On the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he agreed that TSA needs to be reopened as quickly as possible — but not under the terms Republicans are offering, which is to fund the entire Homeland Security department.
Democrats are looking to fund TSA while continuing negotiations on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Tomorrow, America will see the matter crystal clear: which senators want to open up TSA, pay TSA workers, and end the chaos at our airports, and which senators are going to block TSA funding yet again,” Schumer said.
Airports now feel the strain in ways that can’t be hidden. Staffing shortages grow as more TSA officers decide they can’t keep working without pay, increasing wait times, raising tempers, and making travel much harder for families who already paid for their trip. The ripple effect spreads beyond TSA to airlines, airport staff, and travelers trying to get where they need to go.
That gap creates anger for a reason; workers continue showing up out of duty, not because the system is treating them fairly. Families adjust budgets, skip purchases, and stretch every dollar while waiting for a resolution that never seems urgent for those in charge.
There’s no need for hyperbole when describing this situation; it speaks for itself.
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