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This Friday marks a significant day for workers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as they are poised to miss their first complete paycheck. This development comes amid the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with bipartisan negotiations in Congress hitting a stalemate.
As nearly four weeks have passed since the partial government shutdown began, it marks the third such disruption for DHS employees in recent months. Both political parties are steadfast in their positions, each hoping their respective supporters will back them for not conceding in the current deadlock.
The Democratic Party expresses readiness to fund multiple agencies under the DHS umbrella, including the TSA. However, they have drawn the line at allocating funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without substantial reforms to their practices. On the other hand, Republicans dismiss many of these stipulations as unreasonable and criticize Democrats for allegedly rejecting opportunities to negotiate.
Amidst this political divide, TSA officers continue to work without remuneration, leading to longer wait times and flight delays at airports. These disruptions are likely to escalate further if Congress fails to reach a resolution.
Previously, TSA officers received only about 30 percent of their wages in a paycheck issued two weeks ago. Now, as they brace for their first missed full paycheck, concerns mount about potential staffing shortages. The fear is growing that more transportation security officers (TSOs) might leave their jobs to seek alternative employment, exacerbating the situation.
“It’s the same story: It’s TSOs who are sleeping in cars, sleeping at the airport, saving on gas, losing out with childcare,” Erik Hansen, head of government relations at the U.S. Travel Association, told The Hill in an interview on Thursday.
“The call-out rates are now increasing, and we’re seeing extraordinarily long lines at airports,” Hansen continued. “Travelers are paying the cost, as well.”
More than 300 TSA officers have quit since the start of the shutdown and unscheduled absences have more than doubled, according to internal TSA data first reported by CBS News. Footage of long security lines went viral this past weekend and prompted some airports to warn travelers to arrive as many as five hours before their scheduled departure time.
According to data from the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), TSA employees have worked without pay for nearly half of all workdays so far in fiscal year 2026, as a result of the government shutdowns.
“That’s the federal government failing them,” AAAE President and CEO Todd Hauptli told The Hill.
Hauptli said he expects the negative impacts of the shutdown to worsen before conditions improve.
“They’re going to get paid eventually, but these are paycheck-to-paycheck jobs,” Hauptli said in an interview. “So if this thing goes on for a long time, people are going to start leaving.”
“It’s ironic that you could go seek a job working at one of the fast-food restaurants at an airport and probably have greater job stability than you have working for the federal government as a [TSA] screener,” he added.
TSOs are already feeling the challenges of working without pay.
Cameron Cochems — the vice president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1127 and a Lead TSO based in Boise, Idaho — said some of his co-workers have support from spouses or savings, but others show up to work exhausted after picking up ride-sharing shifts or donating plasma to make some extra money.
“That’s where we’re at right now, where people don’t even have enough money for gas to get to work,” Cochems told The Hill, noting gas prices in his area went up $0.50 in the last three days, so money “is already a little more thin that it would have been a month ago or during the last shutdown.”
“It just feels like everything’s getting worse,” he continued.
After last fall’s record 43-day government shutdown, Congress completed its work on 11 of the 12 appropriations bills, leaving just the Homeland Security bill outstanding. But after federal immigration officers were involved in two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minnesota, Democrats refused to support the DHS funding bill without first securing commitments to reform ICE and CBP.
The two sides remain deadlocked. For the fourth time since Feb. 12, Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked legislation to fund DHS. A day earlier, Republicans blocked Democrats’ alternative bill to fund agencies within DHS that do not conduct immigration enforcement.
“We all know that we do not have agreement on how to deal with ICE. We know very simply that Democrats just want ICE to behave like any police department in America and use warrants and not wear masks,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said on Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) accused Democrats of stonewalling White House negotiators over their latest offer to make some reforms to immigration enforcement to reopen DHS, saying on the floor, “There have been offers made repeatedly, the most recent of which was 13 days ago.”
The Trump administration blamed Democrats for the “chaos” at airports this past weekend amid stalled negotiations over DHS funding.
“These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“Enough is enough: stop holding national security and everyday Americans hostage. Democrats must fund DHS now,” she added.
Hauptli said he worries the shutdown is not getting the attention it needs to compel lawmakers to get serious about reopening DHS because, compared to past shutdowns, only one department is affected and people “don’t necessarily care about this as much unless they are trying to get ready to go on a trip.”
“Members of Congress probably are not feeling the heat in the same way,” he continued. “They’re probably not taking as many calls in their offices as you do when the entire government is shut down and people are worried about their social security checks.”
“I fear it’s going to take major disruptions in the system for this to get fixed,” Hauptli added. “Logic and good government is not going to win the day.”
Hansen signaled a slightly more optimistic outlook, noting security lines at this point during the shutdown are already longer than in past funding lapses.
“It seems right now everyone is making a calculation that this is going to be good for them politically, if they continue to hold out,” Hansen said.
“Eventually, everyone will realize that nobody is winning here. Both parties tend to get blamed for shutdowns,” he added, “So the longer this goes on, the higher that pressure becomes, and we’re hopeful it’s enough to end this.”