The partial government shutdown began in mid-February, as Republicans and Democrats failed to reach an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA and ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said he traveled about 10 days ago and had no problem getting through the airport, but now that TSA agents have received one partial paycheck and are about to miss a whole one, they\u2019re much less inclined to go to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are not showing up to signal their displeasure with not being paid,\u201d he said. \u201cOthers are not showing up simply because they can\u2019t afford to show up and not be paid. They have to find other sources of income to pay the rent and pay for food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no clear end in sight to the government shutdown, Jones said. But if it were to end, the public pressure created by massive airport delays is exactly the thing that would do it, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have media coverage with more and more delays and more and more frustrated Americans blaming the U.S. Congress, generally from their partisan political lens, that\u2019s when something has to give,\u201d he said. \u201cI suspect it\u2019s going to be the airport lines and delays that will eventually break the logjam. It affects so many people and the optics are so bad for elected officials, for members of Congress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear which side of the aisle President Donald Trump\u2019s DHS supports. The federal agency posted from its official social media account on Monday: \u201cFor the THIRD time in nearly six months, our hardworking TSA officers are being forced by the Democrats to work without pay. Our TSA officers and their families are struggling to make ends meet because of the Democrats\u2019 political stunts. Re-open DHS NOW.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The difficult part for Democrats is that if they fund TSA, which falls under the purview of Homeland Security, they\u2019ll also be funding ICE \u2014 and they\u2019ve said they\u2019re not budging until their Republican counterparts agree to reforming immigration policies. Throughout the standoff, more than 1 million federal employees and contractors will have to work without pay or face furloughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a certain point, Republicans need to give Democrats something they want related to body cameras and detention and masks, and Democrats effectively need to allow ICE to be funded,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAt the end of the day, they aren\u2019t going to be able to block all funding from ICE because in and of itself, ICE is not as adversely affected by the shutdown as TSA because of its alternative revenue stream from the Big Beautiful Bill.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Travelers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport did not experience the same long delays as Hobby on Monday and Tuesday. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n
The Trump administration appears to be hyperfocused on the conflict in Iran right now, so \u201cthis has fallen somewhat to the back burner, at least in terms of administration priorities, and Democrats, given the Iran crisis, are in less of a mood to negotiate,\u201d Jones added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The spring break airport delays became a crisis of its own, but Jones said people can better prepare now that they know they need to arrive at the airport, in some cases, up to four hours early.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the first day, it caught a lot of people off guard,\u201d he said. \u201cThey weren\u2019t aware that they needed to get there four hours early to catch their flights. On Sunday and Monday, more people became aware that they needed to get there early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Houston Airports reported that the number of operational TSA screening lanes can vary from airport to airport and shift to shift, depending on how many agents show up to work. Travelers are encouraged to check with the airport<\/a> beforehand for estimated security wait times. Global Entry, TSA pre-check and CLEAR lanes are operational. It appeared that the long lines at Hobby, marked by red balloons, were for domestic travelers with no special pre-paid clearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n