More than 400 Transportation Security Administration officers have resigned since the Department of Homeland Security partially shut down in February, as financial strain forces thousands more to miss work.
“This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent,” the agency’s acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Monday.
The national callout rate also reached its highest level of the shutdown on Monday, with nearly 12% — more than 3,450 — of officers calling out, according to Bis.
Some of the nation’s busiest international airports were hit especially hard on Monday. Callout rates exceeded 40% at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Other major travel hubs in Baltimore, New York City, and Houston reported more than 25% of the TSA workforce absent.
The callouts prompted Atlanta’s airport to request that flyers arrive at least four hours before takeoff.
Bis said the Trump administration is taking steps to ease burdens on travelers.
“President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted,” she said. “This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.”
Although TSA falls under DHS and is affected by the shutdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has continued operating with pay. The agency received more than $75 billion in direct funding from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, shielding it from the current funding lapse.
The shutdown has affected over 500,000 TSA employees, many of whom have now missed multiple paychecks since the funding lapse began in February.
The impasse stems from a standoff in Washington over DHS funding. Democrats refused to pass the bill as written, pushing for immigration enforcement reforms and tighter oversight of ICE.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R- OK), President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead DHS, urged lawmakers to end the shutdown last week during his confirmation hearing.
TRUMP MAY DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD TO ASSIST TSA AMID SHUTDOWN
“We have to get DHS funded. We have to. My friends, we have to set the partisan side down,” he said.
Mullin will face the Senate on Monday evening for a final confirmation vote.
