Airports report five-hour lines as airlines call on Congress to fund DHS

Airports across the country are reporting increased wait times at security checkpoints as a partial government shutdown continues to impact the Transportation Security Administration.At Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, officials advised travelers to arrive at least three hours in advance, as TSA security wait times have exceeded two hours.
Airlines for America, which represents major U.S. carriers, urged Congress to swiftly resolve the funding impasse.
“As TSA officers are facing a $0 paycheck this week, we are seeing firsthand the significant strains that the current DHS shutdown is causing across the aviation system,” A4A President and CEO Chris Sununu said. “TSA lines are two and three hours long at some airports, causing flights to be delayed and passengers to miss flights.”
Democrats have held up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, citing concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement practices. They are demanding new restrictions on federal operations as part of the final 2026 appropriations bill.
Their proposed changes include banning DHS agents from wearing masks, engaging in racial profiling, making indiscriminate arrests, tracking protestors, or entering private property without both a judicial and immigration court warrant, among other measures.
Republicans have rejected these demands, leading to a legislative stalemate.
Sununu said the fallout is hurting travelers and workers.
“The shutdown is having very real consequences, and hardworking federal aviation workers, the airline industry and our passengers are being used as a political football once again,” he said. “This is simply unacceptable and un-American.”
The funding fight comes as millions prepare to travel for spring break.
“We are in spring break travel season and expecting record numbers of people to take to the skies,” Sununu said. “Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach a deal that reopens DHS and ends this shutdown. America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”

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