House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is calling on airlines to stop allowing members of Congress the privilege of skipping security lines until the Department of Homeland Security is fully funded.
Johnson was asked during an appearance on Fox and Friends if he agreed with Delta Air Lines deciding to scrap the perk. The speaker said he agreed “100% with the decision and that lawmakers did not deserve the special benefit during the DHS shutdown.”
“There are some occasions where members of Congress get escorted around for security threats, heightened threat environments, and all that,” Johnson said. “But my members don’t do that, they don’t skip the line.”
“If anybody’s been taking advantage of a perk like that, bad look, obviously,” the speaker added. “Congress has to do its job. The first function, the first responsibility of government is to make sure that we’re keeping the homeland safe.”
Johnson’s call comes as the DHS remains shut down with no path forward to reopen the agency that funds the Transportation Security Administration. Complicating the matter is that resolution seems even less likely as Congress has left Washington for a two-week recess to observe Passover and Easter.
TSA employees had missed two pay periods before Trump signed an emergency order last week to pay the agents. Paychecks began going out on Monday, as many include money from the lapsed paychecks as well. Yet the nation’s airports are still struggling to return to normal, as some TSA wait times have grown to well over three hours in the past week.
The delays and stress points led Delta Air Lines to scrap its congressional specialty service last week. The perk allows members of Congress to bypass typical airport security.
“Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta,” a Delta spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
THUNE UNDER PRESSURE TO END TWO-WEEK VACATION AMID RECORD-LONG DHS SHUTDOWN
The House punted a two-month continuing resolution back to the Senate late Friday after rejecting the bipartisan deal Senate Majority Leader John Thune (D-SD) struck with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to fund everything at the DHS except ICE and Border Patrol.
Both chambers immediately left town after passing their own deals, without reaching one that could make it to the president’s desk.
