The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reversed its plan to temporarily shut down TSA PreCheck while the agency remains without funding, with officials announcing that airport escorts for members of Congress will be suspended instead.
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, both services that offer air travelers a faster security experience for a fee, were set to pause on Sunday as a result of the partial government shutdown that began on February 14, Breitbart News reported.
A press release from DHS announced that PreCheck, which runs through DHS’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will still be available.
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” the statement reads. “As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly.”
“Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies,” officials added.
The statement noted that Global Entry will remain paused and that all “non-disaster-related” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) response efforts will be halted as well.
The PreCheck reversal came soon after the original announcement caused an outpour of backlash, with social media users pointing out that it and Global Entry are paid services.
“TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are literally subscription services. What are we doing here,” wrote Yahoo Sports reporter Dan Wolken:
New York Times correspondent Edward Wong argued that the automated features of both programs “allow DHS to do their work with less agents.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed Congressional Democrats for refusing to fund her department while demanding to impose new restrictions on DHS after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good during confrontations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last month in Minneapolis.
“This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” Noem said in a statement. “Shutdowns have real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security.”
“The American people depend on this department every day, and we are making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions to mitigate the damage inflicted by these politicians,” she continued. “ TSA and CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts. FEMA will halt all non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters. This is particularly important given this weekend another significant winter storm is forecast to impact the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States.”
A DHS official who spoke to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity said the decision to keep TSA PreCheck was “based off of conversations the secretary had with the White House and TSA.”
While Congressional Republicans and the White House have attempted to negotiate a deal with Democrats, they have not reached an agreement.
As the Washington Post reported, “Democrats have insisted that federal agents wear body cameras and stop wearing masks, get judicial warrants before raiding people’s homes, stop raids on ‘sensitive sites’ such as churches and schools, and adhere to a new code of conduct similar to those of state and local police, among other demands.”
Democrat leaders sent a counteroffer to the White House on Monday after rejecting their deal, a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told the outlet.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
