U.S. airports may soon experience increased security delays, possibly starting in May. This situation arises after the Homeland Security Secretary mentioned on Tuesday that the ongoing partial government shutdown has left the department short on funds for its 50,000 employees.
Back in late March, President Trump instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to allocate emergency funds to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers who had been going unpaid for about six weeks, leading to turmoil at airports nationwide.
Mark Wayne Mullin, the Homeland Security Secretary, shared on “Fox & Friends” that funds are expected to run out by early May.
“My payroll at DHS exceeds $1.6 billion every two weeks. If we keep going down this path, by the first week of May, we will be out of money,” Mullin stated.
“There are no more emergency funds available, so the president can’t issue another executive order to allocate money because we simply don’t have it,” he added.
TSA personnel had already been without pay for six weeks during a prior government shutdown last fall.
Chris Sununu, the CEO of Airlines for America, emphasized the need for Congress to act swiftly to secure funding for DHS during an interview with Reuters.
“We can’t expect these TSA officers to endure a third screening,” Sununu remarked, representing major airlines like American Airlines, Delta, and United.
In March, the impasse in Congress led to security lines at several airports reaching over four hours—marking the longest waits in the TSA’s nearly 25-year existence.
Since mid-February, over 500 TSA employees have chosen to resign.
This week, Senate Republicans plan to advance a budget that would boost funding for the agency over the next three years, with the aim of ending the DHS partial shutdown, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
However, before any additional funding can be approved, Democrats are pushing for new restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol, both under DHS’s oversight.
They contend that these agencies should follow the same operational guidelines as police forces nationwide, which includes obtaining a judicial warrant before entering homes.
