DHS Funding Lapse Spurs 3–3.5‑Hour TSA Lines as TSA Website Shuts Down and Airports Tell Travelers to Arrive 3–4 Hours Early
After a partial DHS funding lapse beginning Feb. 14, TSA staffing shortages have produced uneven but severe security waits at some airports — many reporting roughly 3–3.5‑hour lines (Houston Hobby peaking longer, with some advisories reaching 4–5 hours and New Orleans warning up to two hours) — prompting carriers and airports to tell travelers to arrive about 3–4 hours early. The TSA’s public website and app stopped updating on Feb. 17 as staff were furloughed, while agents are working without pay after only partial paychecks, and DHS officials and industry leaders have traded blame and urged Congress to restore funding.
📌 Key Facts
- The Department of Homeland Security has been in a partial funding lapse since Feb. 14, and reporting from multiple outlets ties current long TSA lines and airport disruptions directly to that lapse.
- TSA officers are working without full pay: many received only partial pay earlier in the month and face their first fully missed paycheck; reports say roughly 50,000 TSA employees are affected, creating crippling staffing shortages.
- TSA’s public website and app stopped updating on Feb. 17 after staff who manage those tools were furloughed; the site says it will not be updated until DHS funding is enacted.
- Major airports are seeing uneven but severe impacts: Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport reported average waits around 3–3.5 hours (with lines spilling into baggage claim and parking areas) while nearby George Bush Intercontinental had much shorter waits; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International warned of waits up to two hours and urged passengers to arrive three hours early.
- Airports and carriers have issued strong traveler advisories — some telling passengers to arrive 3–5 hours early — and JetBlue specifically recommended arriving at least 3 hours before domestic flights and 4 hours before international flights; TSA urged passengers to arrive “as early as possible.”
- Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu and industry officials urged Congress and the administration to resolve the lapse, saying aviation workers and passengers are being used as political leverage; DHS and Republican officials blamed Democrats for the shutdown, while Democratic lawmakers tied funding to new immigration‑enforcement restrictions following recent shootings in Minneapolis.
- There are broader staffing and retention concerns: a prior 42‑day government shutdown led to roughly 1,110 TSA officers leaving in Oct–Nov 2025, officials warn current conditions could cause long‑term attrition, and agencies say wait times may worsen the longer the lapse continues (with high‑demand travel events like the World Cup approaching).
- TSA Cares assistance remains operational but requires requests to be submitted 72 hours before travel (or via a dedicated helpline if within 72 hours).
📊 Relevant Data
In 2023, the workforce of transportation security screeners was composed of 43.3% White individuals, 29.5% Black individuals, 12.3% individuals of two or more races, and 22.1% Hispanic individuals, with a total workforce of 44,256 people.
Transportation security screeners — Data USA
During the 2018-2019 government shutdown, TSA experienced a significant increase in unscheduled absences, with the national callout rate reaching up to 10% on some days, compared to a normal rate of about 3%, leading to checkpoint closures and longer wait times.
TSA staff shortages lead to hourslong security lines at some airports — CNBC
In fiscal year 2020, there were 65 federal arrest-related deaths, with demographics showing 69% White (38 out of 55), 26% Black (14 out of 55), 29% Hispanic (17 out of 59), and 89% male (58 out of 65), often occurring during warrant service (60%) and involving firearms (51%).
Federal Deaths in Custody and During Arrest, 2020 – Statistical Tables — Bureau of Justice Statistics
From 2016 through 2021, TSA received 34,542 civil rights and civil liberties complaints alleging discrimination, with racial profiling or discrimination being the top category annually (e.g., 1,175 in 2019), followed by disability-related issues; in 2021, there were 131 complaints specifically related to transgender passenger screening.
AVIATION SECURITY: TSA Should Assess Potential for Discrimination and Better Inform Passengers of the Complaint Process — U.S. Government Accountability Office
Metro Atlanta's population growth slowed, adding 75,134 residents from mid-2023 to mid-2024, ranking it high nationally, but with some neighborhoods flipping from primarily Black to primarily White residents between 1980 and 2020, indicating ongoing racial demographic shifts.
Population growth slows down in metro Atlanta, according to new data — Reddit (citing Census data)
📰 Source Timeline (7)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- TSA’s public website and app stopped updating on Feb. 17, with staff managing those tools furloughed, and the site now states it will not be updated until after DHS funding is enacted.
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has advised passengers via social media to arrive three hours early due to DHS‑related TSA delays.
- Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport is advising travelers on its website to arrive four hours before departure to allow extra time for TSA screening.
- JetBlue issued a travel advisory recommending passengers arrive at least 3 hours before domestic flights and 4 hours before international flights because the DHS shutdown could lengthen TSA wait times, including for PreCheck customers.
- TSA confirms TSA Cares assistance remains operational but requires forms to be submitted 72 hours before flight or via a dedicated helpline if within 72 hours.
- DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis explicitly blames what she calls the "Democrat shutdown" for TSA lines of nearly three hours at some major airports and for forcing TSA officers to work without pay.
- Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democrat on the DHS appropriations panel, publicly threatens to block debate on other legislation unless Republicans bring an Iran war authorization to the Senate floor.
- Sen. Katie Britt, the Republican chair of the Senate Homeland Security funding panel, accuses Democrats of ‘delay tactics’ and ‘political games’ and says Democrats are refusing to sit down with GOP negotiators as the DHS shutdown enters its fourth week.
- Fox reports that roughly 50,000 TSA personnel are working without full pay after receiving only a fraction of their salaries last week and will not be paid again until the shutdown ends.
- Specific airports — including New Orleans and Houston’s airport system — are warning travelers to arrive three to five hours early because of TSA staffing shortages linked to the DHS funding lapse.
- Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu is quoted saying aviation workers, airlines and passengers are being used as a ‘political football once again’ as shutdown impacts mount.
- Houston Hobby Airport reported average TSA wait times of about 3.5 hours at one point Sunday, with lines stretching from the checkpoint into baggage claim and a parking garage.
- DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Lauren Bis told Fox the delays are “severe fallout” from what she called a “Democrat shutdown” of DHS and said TSA officers received only partial paychecks earlier in the month and now face their first fully missed paycheck.
- Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu said flights have been delayed and passengers have missed flights due to security lines, urging Congress and the administration to quickly reach a deal to reopen DHS.
- TSA officials reiterated that passengers should arrive “as early as possible” and said staffing constraints are being handled case by case, with expectations that wait times will worsen as the shutdown continues and with World Cup-related travel less than 100 days away.
- A prior 42‑day government shutdown saw roughly 1,110 TSA officers leave the agency in October and November 2025, raising concerns that the current lapse could cause long‑term attrition.
- Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport reported standard TSA checkpoint waits reaching about three hours Sunday evening and escalated guidance for passengers to arrive 4–5 hours early due to the DHS shutdown.
- Houston Airports said the partial DHS shutdown 'can impact security operations day‑to‑day and shift‑to‑shift,' while George Bush Intercontinental’s waits remained as short as a few minutes, underscoring uneven effects.
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport cited a shortage of TSA agents, warned of 'longer‑than‑average' security lines up to two hours, told travelers to arrive at least three hours early, and said similar delays could continue through the coming week.
- Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu publicly urged Congress and the Trump administration to end the DHS shutdown during spring break, calling the transportation security workforce 'too important to be used as political leverage.'
- The article ties the funding standoff to Democratic lawmakers’ insistence on new immigration‑enforcement restrictions following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
- DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Lauren Bis issued a statement blaming a 'Democrat shutdown of DHS' for TSA security lines approaching three hours and missed flights during spring break.
- The DHS statement says the funding lapse has forced TSA officers to work without pay, notes they received only partial paychecks earlier in the month, and warns they now face their first fully missed paycheck leading to 'crippling staffing shortages.'
- DHS’s social media messaging includes a 'SPRING BREAK UNDER SIEGE' graphic and accuses Democrats of 'playing politics with national security' and 'holding national security and everyday Americans hostage,' demanding they 'fund DHS now.'
- Confirms that the Department of Homeland Security has been in a partial shutdown since February 14 and directly links current TSA delays to that shutdown.
- Documents that Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport progressively escalated its public guidance on X until it was asking travelers to arrive 4–5 hours before flights due to the shutdown’s impact on TSA screening.
- Reports that Hobby’s standard security wait time reached about three hours Sunday evening, while George Bush Intercontinental’s waits were only a few minutes, underscoring uneven local impact.
- Details that Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is warning of waits up to two hours and urging passengers to arrive at least three hours early, expecting similar delays through the coming week.
- Includes on‑the‑ground anecdote of a family that arrived three hours early at Hobby, still missed its original flight after waiting roughly 3½ hours in line, and had to rebook.
- Quotes Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu publicly pressing Congress and the Trump administration to end the DHS shutdown, arguing TSA staff are being used as political leverage.
- Notes that TSA agents are working without pay during the shutdown and that Democratic lawmakers say they will not fund DHS without new immigration‑enforcement restrictions tied to Minneapolis shootings.