Airports May Close If DHS Shutdown Continues: TSA Official

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) told Congress on March 25 that airports might close if the partial government shutdown continues.

“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table. We don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing how we maintain our operations,” TSA acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told House Homeland Security Committee lawmakers on March 25.

“And that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as our callout rates increase.”

TSA officers have been working without pay for over a month since the partial shutdown began, as Senate Democrats have rejected a Republican proposal that would fund DHS while temporarily excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations.

Currently, TSA has lost 480 agents, and many of those in the workforce have received eviction notices, had cars repossessed, utilities shut off, lost childcare, defaulted on loans, and suffered other monetary damages.

Democrats voiced concern in the hearing—as well as across Congress when working on a deal to fund the agency—about DHS funding that would flow to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and members of his party have submitted an offer to fund the agency if changes were made to how ICE agents conduct immigration enforcement operations. 

Some Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), have pushed to exclude ICE funding from the rest of the DHS funding package, while providing appropriations for the TSA, Coast Guard, and other critical DHS services. Such efforts to split up the package have been blocked by Republicans.

Other departments under the DHS umbrella spoke to the committee about the dangers of the lack of funding. 

Should funding be restored to the agency immediately, it would still take four to six months for agents to be fully certified to work at security checkpoints. 

U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Thomas Allen said the military branch has incurred over $200 million in obligations to industry partners for operations during the shutdown, and the Coast Guard is prohibited from paying those bills until the shutdown ends.

“We can’t pay over 5,000 utility accounts, putting us in danger of widespread shutdowns of critical infrastructure,” he said.

“Every day the shutdown drags on” brings the Coast Guard “closer to a tipping point,” the admiral said. “It’ll take us about two and a half days to recover from every day we’re in shutdown. If the shutdown ends today, we wouldn’t catch up until July 3.”

Nicholas Andersen, the acting Director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, warned that the activities that reduce risk nationwide, such as risk assessment, and engagements with other federal agencies, are the ones that have been paused under the shutdown. 

Beginning on Monday, ICE agents have been stationed at international airports in Atlanta, New York City, and a dozen other airports to help TSA personnel as long lines formed due to a lack of agents. 

Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) pressed TSA leadership on ICE in another way, asking how ICE could be prepared in just three days to assist at airport checkpoints when TSA agent training takes months.

McNeill said ICE personnel assisting at airports were conducting “nonspecialized screening functions,” such as managing long lines, checking travel documents, and offering instruction to passengers. 

Trump suggested on March 25, the same day as the hearing, that he might deploy the National Guard to assist at airports as lines continue to grow. 

Trump blamed Democrats for the “mess,” saying they are looking for the country “to do badly” and “fail.” 

“They broke the already signed Bill because they want to take care of Criminals who enter our Country illegally, rather than American citizens,” Trump said. “I may call up the National Guard for more help.”

Jackson Richman and Joseph Lord contributed to this report.