The Transportation Security Administration temporarily closed Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal C security checkpoint Thursday due to staffing shortages caused by the partial federal government shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is unclear how long the checkpoint, which only is used by PreCheck passengers, will remain closed. All other checkpoints and PreCheck lanes remain open.<\/p>\n
MORE:\u00a0Man connected to 2014 murder of 2 men in Philly added to FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives list<\/a><\/p>\n Airport spokesperson Heather Redfern deferred questions about the length of Terminal C’s closure and the airport’s staffing reductions to the TSA. A TSA representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Reductions in TSA staffing have led to increased security wait times at airports throughout the country \u2014 just as\u00a0spring break<\/a>\u00a0travel ramps up.\u00a0<\/p>\n As of Thursday morning, wait times for PreCheck at Terminals A-East and D\/E were between 2 and 4 minutes. Security lines for Terminal B and non-PreCheck Terminal D\/E were taking 19-20 minutes, said Heather Redfern, public affairs manager for the city’s Department of Aviation. Wait times are posted on the airport’s\u00a0website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Congress has failed to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democrats have refused to do so without reforms to immigration enforcement agencies. Earlier this week, Democratic leaders said Republicans had rejected a proposal to fund several DHS agencies, including TSA, without funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n