Amidst a government shutdown that affects only the Department of Homeland Security, where TSA screeners will have to work while waiting for congress to pass funding before they’re paid, we’re starting to see more employees failing to show up for work. That’s having a significant affect on security lines at several major airports.
TSA wait times reportedly hit an hour or more in Atlanta, New Orleans and at Houston Hobby and 51 minutes at Houston Intercontinental and 47 minutes in Charlotte.
Here’s Houston Hobby TSA:
1:20 P.M. UPDATE | Shortly after the security wait times were reported on the https://t.co/frwkstFoIi website as 3.5 hours, they went back down to two hours.
_______________________
BREAKING UPDATE | Hobby Airport security wait times are now at 3.5 hours. The FAA has also… pic.twitter.com/Q0QeKsxSQS
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) March 8, 2026
Welcome to Hobby Airport. Spring break, rodeo and call out by TSA. Pass the funding Congress! pic.twitter.com/cc77LbwW0V
— Paul Grabowski (@grabowskipauls) March 8, 2026
And from New Orleans (HT: @crucker)
"Due to impacts from the federal government's partial shutdown, the TSA at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) is experiencing a shortage of workers at the security checkpoint, which is causing longer-than-average lines.https://t.co/CujCQVBosV pic.twitter.com/qmrGsILKJl
— AUBRY KILLION (@AubryKWDSU) March 8, 2026
For its part, Homeland Security is issuing partisan blame:
causing missed flights and massive delays during peak travel.
This chaos is a direct result of Democrats and their refusal to fund DHS. These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay.
(2/4)
— TSA (@TSA) March 8, 2026
Democrats are shamelessly playing politics with national security, punishing hardworking TSA workers and their families.
Enough is enough: stop holding national security and everyday Americans hostage. Democrats must fund DHS now.
(4/4)
— TSA (@TSA) March 8, 2026
Democratic congressional leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer outlined 10 demands for ending the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security (which would fund pay for TSA screeners). These are related to immigration enforcement:
- Judicial warrants before entering private property, plus verification someone is not a U.S. citizen before immigration detention.
- No masks for immigration enforcement agents.
- Visible ID with agency, ID number, and last name (and verbalization of ID if asked).
- No enforcement near sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, child care facilities, churches, polling places, and courts.
- No racial profiling based on location, job, language/accent, race, or ethnicity.
- Statutory use of force rules, expanded training, certification, and removal from the field after an incident pending investigation.
- State and local coordination and oversight, including preserving the ability of states and localities to investigate and requiring local consent for large-scale operations outside targeted enforcement.
- Detention reforms, including immediate lawyer access, state lawsuits for violations, and no limits on Congressional member visits to ICE facilities.
- Body cameras with rules for storage and access to footage, plus a ban on building databases of people engaged in First Amendment activity.
- No paramilitary policing, with standardized uniforms and equipment more in line with civil enforcement.
They also said the administration could show good faith by ramping down the Minnesota enforcement surge and removing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Both of those have happened, although Noem’s dismissal wasn’t tied only to Minnesota immigration enforcement but followed her unwillingness to disavow an extamarital affair with her advisor and Trump loyalist Corey Lewandowski (and the $70 million DHS sex plane) and her grandstanding over the shutdown by declaring a suspension of TSA PreCheck without White House signoff.
Jeffries and Schumer indicate that these two conditions are not sufficient. They feel they’re winning, but delays at airport security could change that narrative.
Republicans had reportedly made concessions on body cameras; training and oversight; masks; home entry limits; and transparency and oversight. They hadn’t moved on warrants, IDs, sweeps, profiling, detention safeguards, or how and where enforcement could occur. So there’s a deal to be had. There just hasn’t been significant pressure for a deal until now because the rest of the government was funded, so this wasn’t regular front page news.
Sad to see the public being caught in this, but the GOP gang is unable to understand anything except brute force. You have to stand up to bullies. Being nice and offering to compromise doesn’t work with people who love to knock others down.
All but four House Dems voted to keep DHS closed. It’s not partisan when it’s a fact. ♂️
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202687
Those demands – some of which are outright ridiculous, are all partisan crap. The Dems need the votes – there is no other reason. Lots of liberal whack jobs on these travel blogs – i hope they are stuck in line today,
I bet if the quacks in Congress were not getting paid they would come up quickly with a solution to getting pay for DHS and TSA. It is sad for those who voted left expecting their congress people could be:
A) strong enough to manage their TDS, or
B) wise enough to seek professional treatment to manage their TDS;
so they could actually get things done for their taxpayers. When service members are working hard to keep nut job theologians in Iran from holding the world hostage by nuclear extortion, much like the hostage extortion they managed to thrust upon President Jimmy Carter 47 years ago, it becomes clear how useless… many race, alphabet, and hyphenated American hustlers, in Congress there actually are.
Disappointed in you Gary. This is BS clickbait. These lines are impacting airports that saw major weather disruptions over past couple of days. It is clearing weather, rebooking of passengers and damaged airplanes being returned to service that has disrupted flow adding that Sunday is also a very busy travel day. Also start of Spring Break for many parts of country.
How about a refund of the security fees on our tickets? The security fees were originally applied to fund TSA. TSA should not be part of homeland insecurity but was supposed to be their own circus supported by (security) fees collected by the airlines which I understand has turned into revenue for the airlines.
I’d like to know more Paul’s comment… i.e are the security fees on our tickets supposed to fund TSA?
I would like every Dem holding the TSA employees hostage to be find their share of the TSA salary budget. Their share = 1/200 of the salary budget. It should never be employees going without pay… It should be ONLY the lawmakers going without pay.
Respect to the Israelis and Russians in the chat on the Lord’s day fighting hard to get that single W on the government shutdown in the face of the mounting Ls they are taking on Iran/Oil prices, inflation, jobs, pedophiles, etc.
Every demand the Democrats have made is pretty much standard at every other law enforcement agency in the country. The DHS thinks otherwise, says more about that agency than it does about the Democrats.
Dem demands are non starters. There is room to compromise but no way HHS will agree to all the demands. Some of them would restrict authority they already have.
@Ron, you are correct. But some government agencies appear to be above the law.
Instead of blaming the Democrats, the real blame is to blame Rump and his minions for pardoning the J6 insurrectionists and then giving the $50K bonus to go out in the streets wearing masks, no form of ID, etc and allowing them to arrest and kill American citizens while not being held accountable for their pillage. We, the Democrats, are protecting the innocent citizens, from this illegal and unconstitutional treatment. It is unfortunate that the TSA agents are having to go without pay but when the Republicans agree to have masks removed from the criminals murderers, the TSA agents will get their paychecks! I am cheering the Dems for standing their ground!
I hope your readers see right through these hollow DHS rants. They could simplify them by saying, “Let our squads invade your home without a legally required judicial warrant and we will stop doing things like messing up TSA which we know cause you pain.” They are still spending money every day. Hostage taking is neither a strategy nor a good look for DHS.
@ Dear Magats — You are OK with these untrained, racist, thug ICE agents running around detaining ANYONE they wish (including YOU!!) with zero accountability? I am fine with just not traveling, which will further damage the economy and hopefully cause the grifters in the White House to face accountability from a Democrat-led Congress. Do I love the Democrats? Absolutely not, but they are better than having an unchecked fascist government. This entire mess is the fault of the party that controls every part of the federal government — the Republicans, regardless of what your FoxNews is telling you.
When I went through TSA a week ago at LAX, it seemed that most agents were directing travelers to lines instead of checking IDs or scanning people or scanning items. Does it really require TSA agents to direct travelers? The lines and wait time seemed normal. Maybe some airports are hit harder than others for political reasons.
@Scott — Houston Hobby (HOU) and New Orleans (MSY) were two with the longest lines…so you’re hoping to hurt those ‘liberals’ in notoriously ‘deep blue’ Texas and Louisiana? *facepalm*
Go with the nuclear option in the Senate.
Oh please. This administration chooses chaos over productive negotiations.
Look at IRAN look at Venezuela
Look at the turmoil within the USA
They don’t care about inconveniencing the average American., job losses, higher prices, gutting our once good economy Only focusing on lining the pockets of the ultra wealthy, their bullying image, corruption , coverups and greed
@Debra – No, the issues at TSA checkpoints in Atlanta, New Orleans and at Houston weren’t weather. In fact only 1% of flights were cancelled at Hobby and into New Orleans. In any case, one of the great failures of TSA is that they don’t meaningfully vary staffing with known weather events. You’ll recall Houston was an epicenter of TSA lines in the fall shutdown.
So the Demos want ICE agents to clearly display their face, badge, and name so the leftist mob can go to their homes and threaten, destroy, burn, their property and families. Meanwhile many of these leftist nuts have PO Boxes or addresses in other areas to hide from the same sort of treatment. To all of the Dems here, put up and sponsor a criminal illegals and their family.
Cut the DHS and ICE budget back to 2024 levels and then use a small sliver of the savings to pay TSA screeners.
Another problem caused by government. A pattern emerges.
“So the Demos want ICE agents to clearly display their face, badge, and name so the leftist mob can go to their homes and threaten, destroy, burn, their property and families.” That’s my fear, too. Make them wear a code that IDs them to superiors, the courts, but not the public. The day you have names and unmasked faces, protestors will start posting pictures of agents just standing around, and agents will get swatted, harassed, etc.
The comments here are dizzying. Everyone take a breather and go for a walk. Enjoy the air and relax. Go talk to some people in the park.
@ Coffe Please and @This comes to mind — Yes, we should leave all the intimidation tactics and threats to the MAGATs since they are so good at it.
I much prefer second @Scott’s hot take.
@Mike P — One. Trick. Pony. (Anarchy solves nothing.)
@jns — Go ‘nuclear’ over this? Psh, aren’t they saving that for disenfranchising voters…
@Coffee Please — Nice strawman. If you prefer, we can elect a Democrat to the Presidency, and they can continue to illegally use ICE, but that time, against conservatives, so that we can prove this fine point that an unaccountable paramilitary, under any President, is a bad idea. Or, we can all come together, now, and recognize that point, without more negative consequences for anyone.
Fund the TSA but better yet start using technology for screening. Why in the year 2026 we have a low wage person staring at a screen is beyond me. But that’s government.
@George Romey — The volume on Fox News doesn’t need to be full-blast, sir. Whether you refer to them as “low wage” or “low IQ”… we get it, that propaganda network is on 24/7 in your household.
There’s always money in America to launch wars, grab oil, and pilfer other nations. There’s never a dime in this country for affordable healthcare, education, sensible gun control laws, and so forth. I have no sympathy for either the government staff not getting paid or those subjected to those long lines. You voted this crap in. You got what you paid for.
@1990
you really need to leave New York and your bubble more often. Yes, Houston and New Orleans are pretty deep blue. Their surrounding states are not, but the cities are.
@Julie — So, only the ‘city-folk’ travel, but not me, so I need to get out of my… city, got it.
*woosh*
The ones going through TSA at Hobby and MSY? Yes. They’d tend to be from around the airport. The ones connecting there? They don’t go through security there.
You need to get out of your bubble. You say a lot of stupid things that haven’t been thought through just to sound smart and you just sound like an idiot.
Refusing to fund Homeland Security during a war seems like the dumbest thing the Democrats have done since their efforts to defund the police. I remain amazed at how tribal behavior can make people entirely irrational. Who would shut down Homeland Security simply to make life more pleasant for those who are in our country illegally? How does that make any sense? No rational citizenry would tolerate it.
Flew into Charlotte International yesterday. It was a zoo. Other than the CBP agents at the counters, there was no one helping with the lines, so it was chaos. At least a 45-minute wait for the US entry, so I just went to the international queue that had nobody in line and nobody checking. The CBP agent didn’t say a word.
Once I picked up my bag, I walked straight out door not an a customs agent in sight.
Politics of it all aside, it’s strange to take a stand on ICE in this funding bill when ICE is already funded from previous funding bills the Democrats either supported or didn’t block with cloture in the Senate.
@ Chopsticks — What’s really dumb is to have paramilitary locking up your own citizens while fighting a war commanded by a foreign country. Please explain how that makes sense.
I am tired of the Democrats trying to shove non sensical solutions on the American People. There is a reason there is no Democrat president at the moment! If I worked for TSA i would be out looking for a new job so I didn’t have to become a pawn in the power struggle of the elite that never wait in a TSA line. If TSA walks out and no one is there to screen pax then what? Total Democrat caused choas! As some one that does not live on the coast of the US we are tired of New York elitist blowing hot air all the time. Schimer and Jefferies have no clue what a life long AZ resident thinks.
@ Don B — Please explain how anything the Republicans have done solve any of America’s problems. Guns everywhere, rampant inflation (that was initially caused by the current moron in the WH back in 2020), allowing foreign countries to decide when we go to war, locking up/killing US Citizens with no due process, cutting taxes so deeply as to bankrupt our govenment, effectively eliminating health care for millions of workers. Yeah, those policies are working out great! I suppose the drop in your investments now due to the war ordered by Bennie N. is somehow the Dems fault?
@ Don B — Oh, and how could I forget…How are those tariffs, pardoning violent insurrectionists, protecting pedophiles from prosecution, and molesting 13 year old girls working out for you? I could go on and on and on with the long list of genius things the moron has done.
@Julie — Sorry, I still can’t understand anything you’ve been saying on here. Could you explain it again, but slower? Hehe.
@Gene — Oh! Oh! I got this one! (It doesn’t make sense!)