This week’s passage of a measure to end a months-long Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown should avert yet another round of disruptions at the nation’s airports—at least for now.
But travel industry and union officials representing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers say long-term damage has been done, and more permanent solutions are needed to keep the agency and the travel sector overall from continuing to be used as pawns in political debates.
“More than 1,100 TSA officers have already left the workforce, morale has been undermined, and with just weeks until the World Cup, our preparedness has taken a step backward,” U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Geoff Freeman said in a statement. “We emerge from this disruption weaker, not stronger.”
Indeed, Zane Kerby, president of the American Society of Travel Advisors, said that “depending on where recent TSA job losses are concentrated, and how quickly qualified candidates can be sourced, trained, and brought online, we may very well see [a return of] exorbitant wait times at airports as summer travel kicks into high gear.”
After a record 75-day partial government shutdown, the House on Thursday afternoon passed a bill that President Donald Trump then quickly signed to fund most of the DHS through September. The surprise vote came on the heels of a warning that temporary funding for the agency was about to run out.
Although a budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—whose controversial enforcement action led to the funding lapse—was not included, the bill otherwise ended the longest government shutdown in history. It was the third shutdown in less than a year, leading to hours-long lines at airports around the country as many TSA workers, who went for six weeks without pay, quit or called out sick.
Security lines at airports largely returned to normal after Trump in late March signed an emergency order to temporarily fund TSA, but there were concerns about a new round of disruptions to summer travel as warnings came that that money was about to run out.
The budget bill passed this week guarantees payment to TSA through September, but it was unclear what impact the loss of more than 1,000 agents might have when the summer and World Cup travel crunch begins. The international soccer tournament kicks off on June 11 and matches will take place in Canada, Mexico, and in 11 cities across the United States.
Everett Kelly, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union that represents TSA agents and tens of thousands of government workers, applauded the action, but said it was “unacceptable that it took them this long to do so.” He said in a statement, “Too many times we have seen lawmakers use patriotic federal employees’ livelihoods as leverage for political gains. Federal employees are not political pawns—and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Kelly called on Congress to pass the Shutdown Fairness Act, which would pay all federal employees during government shutdowns.
The travel industry also has been calling on Congress to exempt TSA and other essential workers from pay lapses during shutdowns. In March, a six-page list of travel industry associations and companies big and small signed a letter to Congress urging passage of several acts that have already been filed, which would guarantee that air traffic controllers and TSA officers are paid regardless of the government’s funding status.
The most recent DHS shutdown created widespread disruption for air travel across the United States, hitting just as the spring break travel season got underway and resulting in major security backlogs. That prompted President Trump to send in ICE agents—who were getting paid through a separate funding bill—to more than a dozen airports.
Kerby has said he thinks the only solution that will make a difference is a proposal that would also stop the pay of Congress during shutdowns. Officials on both sides of the aisle have said passage of such measures are unlikely. Kerby on Friday suggested moving TSA’s jurisdiction from DHS to a less politicized Department of Transportation to “provide clarity and restore confidence.”
