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On Wednesday, a top official from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) cautioned Congress about the potential closure of small airports and the negative impact on the United States’ preparedness for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, all due to staffing shortages linked to the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Ha Nguyen McNeill, who is currently filling in as the senior TSA official, shared this concern during her testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee. She revealed that since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) depleted its funding on February 14, over 480 TSA officers have resigned. This follows a larger trend seen during the 2025 shutdown, where more than 1,100 officers left their positions.
McNeill highlighted that the combination of increased call-out rates and officer attrition has led to what she referred to as “the highest wait times in TSA history.” This situation, she warned, might force the agency to make difficult choices, such as closing certain airports.
“We are being compelled to consolidate lanes and may have to shut down smaller airports if we lack sufficient staffing,” McNeill stated during her opening comments. “It’s a fluid, challenging, and unpredictable scenario.”
During the hearing, McNeill was further questioned about the possibility of smaller airports facing temporary closures or operating with limited capacity.
“As the shutdown drags on and we see increases in call-out rates, we’ll have to make real-time decisions on how we operate,” McNeill responded. “For example, we have many small airports that operate one or two lanes, and a few call-outs could really severely impact our ability to run the operations.
“In those scenarios, we would not be able to open the checkpoint at the airport,” she continued.
The TSA chief also warned that high attrition among staff will have “dire” consequences for the country’s ability to prepare for the World Cup, scheduled from June 11 to July 19 across 16 North American cities, including 11 in the United States.
McNeill said TSA is expecting the World Cup to bring in between 6 million and 10 million additional air travelers this summer. She expressed concern that the agency will lack trained officers to handle the influx, noting there isn’t enough time to start training new recruits.
“As the shutdown drags on, we fear we will continue to lose talented and experienced employees to other jobs that can provide a steady paycheck,” McNeill said. “Not only is the shutdown decreasing the number of interested candidates, for those we are able to hire, they are required to complete four to six months of training before they are certified to work at checkpoints.”
“At this point, newly hired officers will not be able to work on the checkpoint until well after the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” she continued.
“This is a dire situation,” the TSA chief added. “We are facing a potential perfect storm of severe staffing shortages and an influx of millions of passengers at our airports for the World Cup games in less than 80 days.”
Updated at 5:48 p.m. EDT