Hundreds of TSA officers have quit over the federal budget battle that left them working without pay –fueling hours-long flight delays and Department of Homeland Security videos blaming Dems for the travel nightmare.
More than 300 TSA officers have tossed in the towel since the shutdown began Feb. 14, while a slew of other workers have been taking unscheduled absences, CBS News reported, citing internal TSA statistics.
Hobby Airport in Houston saw 53% of its TSA officers call out March 8 and 47% the next day, while other airports have seen double-digit call-out averages since the shutdown started.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City also has seen 21% of its TSA staff calling in sick in the past month, Atlanta International battled a 19% rate, and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was slammed with 14% calling out, CBS reported.
Those troubling rates were logged even before TSA officers missed their first paycheck Friday — with some airports seeing travelers standing in security lines for hours as their drastically depleted staff struggled to keep up with business.
Photos of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Sunday morning showed massive lines, with one traveler warning not to brave the wait “unless your life depends on it.”
Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport had similar scenes Sunday morning, though both airports had cleared up by the afternoon.
Last weekend had similar chaos — with some airports across the country advising travelers to arrive upwards of five hours before their flights .
DHS has spent the shutdown blaming Democrats for the delays.
“You may be experiencing longer-than-average wait times due to the ongoing Democrat shutdown of TSA and the Department of Homeland Security,” a new video played over airports’ security lines said, ABC News reported.
“The TSA Officers you are interacting with have shown up to work despite having missed paychecks. Please take the opportunity to thank the dedicated men and women of the TSA when you fly today.”
Some airports — including JFK, LaGuardia, which is also in New York City, and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey — declined to play the video, saying it was partisan in nature.
DHS has been undetered.
“The Democrats’ DHS shutdown has led to HOURS long security lines at airports across the country, leading Americans to miss their spring break flights,” an agency post on X last weekend read.
DHS put out similar statements and videos to travelers during the government shutdown last year.
They featured DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who got the boot after facing scrutiny for greenlighting a $220 million advertisement campaign she starred in.
The current struggle has persisted for nearly a month after Senate Democrats refused to fund a DHS budget without reforms to the ICE and Border Patrol.
