The United States is once again in the grip of a partial government shutdown, and this time the impact is landing squarely at the airport security checkpoint. With funding for the Department of Homeland Security expiring and no deal in sight, Transportation Security Administration screeners have been ordered to stay on the job without pay. For travelers, this means a new season of uncertainty at the nation’s airports, as unpaid officers hold the line at security while the political stalemate in Washington grinds on.
TSA Screeners Deemed Essential, But Working Without Pay
The current shutdown began after Congress failed to renew funding for the Department of Homeland Security, leaving agencies such as the TSA, FEMA and the Secret Service without full operating budgets even as most of the federal government remains funded. Under federal law, the vast majority of TSA workers are categorized as essential. Roughly 95 percent of the agency’s workforce must continue reporting to duty, regardless of whether paychecks are issued on time.
In practical terms, this means that most airport security lanes are still open and flights are still departing. Passengers will find uniformed screeners at checkpoints, checked baggage going through scanners and standard security protocols in place. The difference now is that many of the people doing this work have no idea when they will be paid next, and that reality is already weighing on morale.
TSA officers, on average, earn modest salaries and are widely reported to live paycheck to paycheck. Union officials and former agency leaders have warned that the longer a shutdown persists, the harder it becomes for screeners to absorb missed income, cover rent or mortgage payments and manage basic household expenses. That financial pressure, they say, is likely to spill over into operations at airports if the funding lapse stretches from days into weeks.
Security Lines Under Strain as Absenteeism Rises
In the early days of any shutdown, travelers may see little change. Airports typically shuffle staff and lean on overtime to maintain throughput while officials in Washington insist that operations remain normal. But recent shutdowns have shown how quickly that veneer can crack once paychecks stop arriving, especially after the first full missed pay period.
During last year’s protracted shutdown, sick calls among unpaid TSA officers spiked at many airports as the weeks dragged on. Union representatives reported that in some regions as many as one in five screeners scheduled for a shift called out sick on a given day. Major hubs such as New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport logged hundreds of absences in a single weekend. Similar patterns emerged at Chicago, Atlanta and other high-traffic airports, where thin staffing translated into longer lines and stressed operations.
In Houston, passengers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport recently endured security wait times of up to three hours over consecutive days when only a fraction of the usual checkpoints could be opened because of staffing shortages. Lines snaked through terminals and back toward curbside areas as unpaid agents tried to manage crowds with fewer colleagues on duty. Local airport officials explicitly linked the delays to the ongoing shutdown and warned that extended security wait times would continue until the government reopened.
These examples illustrate how fragile the aviation security system becomes when essential staff are required to work indefinitely without pay. Even a modest uptick in absences can create bottlenecks at screening checkpoints, particularly during peak departure windows in the early morning and late afternoon. For travelers, the practical result is more time standing in queues, tighter connections and an increased risk of missed flights.
Political Deadlock and the Homeland Security Funding Fight
The immediate cause of the disruption lies far from any departure gate. Homeland Security funding was separated from broader government appropriations in an attempt to force negotiations over immigration enforcement. When that temporary funding expired, lawmakers failed to agree on new legislation, plunging the department into a partial shutdown even as most other federal agencies remained on stable financial footing.
Senate Democrats have demanded tighter rules on how immigration authorities conduct operations, calling for measures such as judicial warrants to enter private property, expanded use of body cameras and safeguards around enforcement near schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations. Republicans and the White House have resisted those conditions, arguing that they would hamstring front line agents and weaken border security. The two sides also remain divided over restrictions on so-called sanctuary jurisdictions and how far new oversight provisions should go.
As the stalemate endures, the effects ripple outward through the sprawling Homeland Security portfolio. While some agencies such as Customs and Border Protection retain multiyear funding and remain relatively insulated, others, including the TSA and Coast Guard, are caught in the crossfire. Senior officials have publicly warned for days that without a funding deal, tens of thousands of employees would soon be working without pay, predicting a familiar pattern of eroding morale, rising attrition and operational strain.
With lawmakers now away from Washington for a holiday recess, analysts widely expect the shutdown to persist for at least another week and possibly longer. That timeline puts additional pressure on TSA screeners who are already looking at delayed or reduced paychecks, and on travelers planning trips in the coming days who must navigate an air travel system frayed by political brinkmanship.
Lessons From Past Shutdowns: When Travel Disruptions Peak
For frequent travelers, the current situation is an unwelcome echo of previous shutdowns. The longest in modern history, which stretched 35 days across late 2018 and early 2019, offers a clear case study of how disruptions escalate over time when aviation security workers and air traffic controllers remain unpaid.
In that episode, the first week passed with relatively minor visible effects. But as the second and third weeks arrived and employees confronted zero-dollar pay stubs, sick leave use climbed sharply. At some checkpoints, callout rates for TSA officers tripled compared with normal levels. Several major airports temporarily closed screening lanes or entire checkpoints, consolidating operations into fewer areas simply because there were not enough screeners available to staff all positions.
By the fourth week of that shutdown, the strain had spread to the air traffic control system. Short-staffed towers in critical regions, including the busy New York airspace, prompted widespread delays. Arrivals slowed and departures stacked up, a situation that helped force a political resolution as aviation industry leaders and unions sounded alarms about safety and economic fallout.
Those historical patterns inform current warnings from travel and aviation experts, who caution that the early days of a shutdown can be misleadingly calm. The resilience of the system depends on the willingness of essential workers to keep reporting even as financial pressure mounts. The longer the impasse lasts, the more families exhaust savings, accrue debt or seek temporary work elsewhere, increasing the temptation to call in sick or leave positions entirely. That is the point at which travelers are most likely to feel significant disruptions.
How Airport Operations Are Adapting on the Ground
Airport authorities nationwide are working to manage the evolving situation in real time. Many large hubs have contingency plans that involve reassigning staff, adjusting terminal flows and increasing communication with airlines to reduce the impact of slower screening. Public address announcements and terminal signage are being used more frequently to warn passengers of potential delays at security and to encourage earlier arrival times.
Some airports have responded by consolidating security checkpoints during slower periods, concentrating available TSA staff at a smaller number of lanes to keep them fully operational rather than spreading thinly across multiple checkpoints. While this approach can keep screening machinery running efficiently where staff are present, it also creates longer visible lines at those consolidated points, which can be unsettling for passengers who are not accustomed to seeing queues stretch far beyond the usual roped areas.
Other hubs are leaning more heavily on technology to ease the burden on human screeners. Expedited screening programs, advanced imaging equipment and automated bin return systems can increase throughput per lane, helping to offset some staffing gaps. However, these tools are not a complete solution. They still require trained officers to monitor images, conduct pat-downs, respond to alarms and handle secondary screening of bags flagged for closer inspection.
Behind the scenes, airline operations teams are monitoring security wait times hour by hour and working with airport and TSA liaisons to anticipate choke points. In some cases, carriers may delay departures slightly to accommodate long security lines, especially when a significant number of connecting passengers are still stuck at checkpoints. That sort of adjustment can help individual travelers make their flights but may also cascade into later delays across the network.
What Travelers Should Expect at the Checkpoint Right Now
For travelers heading to the airport during the shutdown, the daily reality will vary by region, time of day and local staffing levels. Some smaller or less busy airports may continue to operate with relatively normal wait times, particularly during off peak periods. Major hubs and vacation gateways, on the other hand, are more vulnerable to even small staffing shortfalls because they must process such high passenger volumes.
Industry guidance has coalesced around a simple message: build in extra time. Experienced aviation analysts and former officials are advising passengers to arrive earlier than usual, especially if they are traveling in the early morning rush, over long weekends or during school breaks when leisure demand surges. A two hour buffer for domestic flights, once considered generous, may no longer be sufficient at airports that have already seen lines stretch to or beyond the three hour mark during the shutdown.
Travelers should also be prepared for uneven experiences from one day to the next. Because absenteeism tends to spike on traditionally busy travel days, such as Sunday evenings, Monday mornings and around holidays, security may be surprisingly smooth on a quiet Tuesday, only to become chaotic later in the week. A lack of updated official wait time information from some agencies complicates planning, forcing passengers to rely more on airport announcements, airline alerts and first hand reports from fellow travelers.
At the checkpoint itself, passengers may notice smaller details that reflect the strain on staff. Supervisors and senior screeners can be seen jumping in to manage lanes or handle bag checks, while training and administrative tasks are pushed aside in favor of simply keeping lines moving. Interactions between stressed travelers worried about making flights and equally stressed officers working without pay can sometimes become tense, a dynamic that both sides will need to navigate with patience.
Financial Hardship for Screeners and the Human Toll
Behind the statistics and operational briefings, there is a human story unfolding among the TSA workforce. Many screeners entered the shutdown already juggling tight budgets. As paychecks are delayed, some have turned to short term measures such as credit cards, personal loans, food banks and community assistance programs to bridge the gap. Others are picking up temporary side jobs during off hours, further compounding fatigue as they juggle long shifts at the airport with additional work to make ends meet.
Union leaders describe a workforce under growing pressure, with members reporting sleepless nights, difficult conversations with landlords and lenders, and concerns about childcare, healthcare and transportation costs. For officers with long commutes, simply paying for fuel or public transit to reach an unpaid shift can become a calculation in itself. These financial and emotional stresses inevitably feed back into workplace morale and, over time, retention.
There are also long term implications for staffing. Shutdowns have historically prompted some experienced officers and air traffic controllers to leave federal service entirely, frustrated by the recurring uncertainty over pay and working conditions. Replacing them is neither quick nor easy, as new recruits must pass background checks, medical evaluations and extensive training before they are fully certified to work independently. Every wave of attrition during a shutdown therefore plants the seeds of future staffing challenges that can linger long after a funding crisis is resolved.
For travelers, recognizing this human dimension is more than a matter of empathy. It provides context for why lines may move slower or why an officer might appear distracted or fatigued. A simple acknowledgment of the situation, a measure of patience in the queue or a willingness to follow instructions carefully can help keep interactions smoother for everyone involved during a difficult period.
Looking Ahead: Uncertain Timeline, Clear Travel Risks
As of mid February 2026, there is no clear timetable for resolving the Homeland Security funding dispute that has left TSA screeners working without pay. Lawmakers have traded statements and proposals, but with Congress in recess and negotiations stalled, the shutdown appears likely to stretch on for at least several more days. Each additional day increases financial strain on essential workers and raises the odds that more of them will be forced to step away, even temporarily, to protect their own household finances.
Travel industry leaders warn that extended disruption in aviation security and air traffic control can carry significant economic consequences, both for airlines and for the broader travel and tourism sector. Past analyses have estimated shutdown costs in the billions of dollars per week when lost visitor spending, staffing inefficiencies and cascading delays are taken into account. Those figures do not fully capture the erosion of traveler confidence when headlines about unpaid screeners and multi hour lines dominate the news cycle.
Until a funding agreement is reached, U.S. air travel will continue to operate under a cloud of uncertainty. Flights are still taking off and landing, and airports remain open, but the system is more brittle than usual. A routine surge in traffic, a severe weather event or a spike in absenteeism at a major hub could more easily tip operations into widespread delays.
For anyone planning to fly in the coming days, the message is clear. Expect longer security lines in some locations, allow more time than you might have in the past, pack thoughtfully to minimize slowdowns at the checkpoint and be ready for changing conditions. Above all, understand that the TSA officers keeping those lines moving are doing so in the midst of a political standoff that has left them holding the security line with no guarantee of when their next paycheck will arrive.