TSA agents paid as lawmakers continue to disagree on government funding package, and Texas could overtake Florida in space investment.
Some airport bottlenecks ease as TSA says workers got their pay
After weeks of chaos in U.S. airports, the Transportation Safety Administration said Monday that most of its officers received much of their backpay Monday for working during the shutdown.
Weary travelers hope the overdue paychecks will lead to the end of the hours-long security lines travelers experienced at several major U.S. airports in recent weeks.
Wait times at some TSA security bottlenecks, such as the airport checkpoints in Atlanta and Houston, already had improved significantly Monday morning.
But how long it will take for long security lines to consistently return to normal — and how long federal immigration officers will maintain a visible presence in airport terminals — remains unknown as the busy spring break travel season continues.
“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” said Acting TSA Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
The DHS shutdown resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers were just recovering financially since last fall’s extended government shutdown.
Wait times still pushed beyond two hours at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Monday morning. Baltimore-Washington International Airport had minimal wait-times Monday morning, but continued to advise travelers to arrive three hours before their scheduled departure.
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to pay TSA officers immediately to ease the lines plaguing airports. The move came after Trump rejected bipartisan congressional efforts to fund the TSA while negotiations continue with Democrats, who have refused to approve more funding without restraints on Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations.
Democrats are demanding better identification for the officers, judicial warrants in some cases and for agents to refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Republicans and the White House have been willing to negotiate on some points, but the sides have yet to reach a final agreement.
On Monday, there were few signs of progress on Capitol Hill, where the Senate held a short session without considering the House bill and resumed its two-week break. GOP Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota said afterward that Senate Republicans are talking with Democrats and also the House as they try to find a way to funding DHS.
TSA employees had gone without pay since DHS funding lapsed in February. The department’s shutdown reached 44 days on Sunday, eclipsing the record 43-day shutdown last fall that affected all of the federal government.
The DHS shutdown has resulted in not only travel delays but also warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stopped going to work. Those workers had already endured the nation’s longest government shutdown last fall. Multiple airports experienced greater than 40% callout rates, and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers quit during the shutdown.
Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to some airports a week ago to help with security as TSA callouts rose nationwide. How long they stay, White House border czar Tom Homan said, depends on how quickly TSA employees return to work. A TSA statement said the agency “has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce,” with paychecks arriving “as early as Monday.”
The overall absentee rate among TSA officers scheduled to work dipped slightly on Sunday, according to DHS. The highest were concentrated at major airports that have seen consistently elevated absences lately.
Those included BWI, both of Houston’s main airports; Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans; Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Texas could overtake Florida in space-related investments
As NASA makes its final preparations for the Artemis II launch at the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, conversations about the future of space in Florida remain an ongoing topic in the state capitol.
The new space race isn’t between the United States and the Soviet Union, but between Texas and Florida, with millions of dollars on the line for the winner.
Space leaders are warning Florida lawmakers to not take this for granted.
“Other states, including Texas are moving rapidly, and Florida must act now to maintain its position as a national leader in space,” Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro said.
Currently, Kennedy Space Center is the launch capital of the world. Time is apparently taking its toll.
“Our infrastructure at KSC is aging and is not sized for a robust launch cadence. And while we’ve made strides toward modernization, the pace of commercial growth and national mission requirements is straining and outpacing our capabilities,” Petro said.
States like Alabama and Texas are spending big bucks to win business.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers in Florida are more reluctant.
“I almost challenge you to do more with less and get these other partners to pony up even more money to make sure your mission is getting served,” State Sen. Keith Truenow said.
The space industry’s impact is not lost on Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In 2004, President George W. Bush announced that the shuttle program would be retired, and when the shuttle program ended in 2011, it took with it more than 10,000 jobs and billions from the state economy.
“A lot of you who’ve been here for a while, you know, you remember what it was like when Obama retired the space shuttle. You know, when you saw this dying, the space program was dying, the space industry was dying. And it was there was a lot of pessimism in the air for a few years,” DeSantis said.
Currently, KSC is still very much the world’s launch capital. But launches are just a small part of a much larger space industry pie.
With budget negotiations ongoing, industry leaders are hoping to see investment in infrastructure plus partnerships around the state to further develop the state’s talent pool.