Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill on the devastating impacts of the Democrats' shutdown:
"We have already lost over 480 TSOs….airports are experiencing days where 40-50% of their staff are calling out because they simply cannot afford to report to work." pic.twitter.com/k1LmBPQMCb
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 25, 2026
Airports across the country could soon close their doors as the government shutdown has brought on the highest security wait times in decades, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced.
Air travel chaos has reached an intense breaking point in recent weeks with more than 480 TSA officers quitting and calling out during the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because they are not getting paid.
On Wednesday, the 40th day of the shutdown, TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency is now ‘being forced to consolidate’ security lanes, and ‘may have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers.’
‘It is a fluid, challenging and unpredictable situation. We understand this is frustrating and disruptive,’ McNeil told Congress. ‘This is unacceptable.’
Travelers have been urged to get to airports more than two hours early because security lines are so slow, as wait times have lasted an average of 270 minutes in some of America’s busiest hubs.
Airports nationwide are experiencing surging callout rates higher than 40 percent among TSA employees, McNeil said.
Nearly 50 percent of staff at Houston’s Hobby Airport called off Monday, leaving fewer employees to help control the swell of travel mayhem.
Senators are currently chasing a deal that would fund much of DHS, including TSA agents.
480 TSA officers quit and called out and nobody in Congress gives a damn. The U.S. government has literally made the most basic security of its airports hostage to political bickering.