JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio — Frustrations continued to ramp up at airports across the United States as TSA officers struggled amid the partial government shutdown, leading to long security lines and widespread travel disruptions.
According to FlightAware.com, 660 flights had been canceled within, into, or out of the U.S. as of Monday morning. Travelers in multiple airports waited for hours in long lines wrapped around terminals just to get through security.
The disruptions came as lawmakers remained at a stalemate over funding the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the Transportation Security Administration.
“They’re making it tough on Americans with what’s happening at the airports and people are traveling with TSA Agents,” U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said. “So, that combination, you’re going to see Americans all over call up their United States Senator and say ‘what the freak’ are you doing, get the daggum DHS open, make these lines go away.”
U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, called the situation “a huge public safety issue,” adding, “And as it relates to T.S.A., for example, we could fund that right now. The lines at airports would be gone if they would just work with us to fund all of the law abiding aspects of DHS which we could do today.”
Monday marked the 37th day of the partial government shutdown.