TSA absences double during shutdown, 300 officers quit, as some airports see longer security lines

Unscheduled absences among airport security officers have more than doubled during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with more than 300 employees leaving the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown, according to internal TSA statistics obtained exclusively by CBS News.

“Washington — Unscheduled absences among airport security officers have more than doubled during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with more than 300 employees leaving the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown, according to internal TSA statistics obtained exclusively by CBS News”

CBS News

TSA officer call-out rates have risen to an average of 6% during the shutdown, compared with about 2% before government funding lapsed, and several days saw even higher national absence rates, including a 9% peak on Feb. 23 and 8% on March 6 and 7% on March 9.

CBS News

At individual airports the call-out spikes were far larger: 53% of officers called out at Houston's Hobby Airport on March 8 and 47% the following day; John F. Kennedy International Airport averaged a 21% absence rate during the shutdown, followed by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (19%), William P. Hobby Airport in Houston (18%), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (14%) and Pittsburgh International Airport (13%).

Extreme weather compounded absences on Feb. 23, when 77% of officers at JFK and 53% at Newark Liberty International Airport called out during a major blizzard.

The shutdown has accelerated departures and strained operations: TSA recorded 305 employee separations between Feb. 14 and March 9, and the agency says it can take four to six months to train replacements who can work independently at checkpoints.

DHS officials and former TSA Administrator John Pistole warned of lasting workforce damage, with Pistole saying he worries adversaries could try to exploit "a perceived vulnerability because there's not as many people at TSA showing up for work," and noting that after the 2025 shutdown TSA "lost nearly 1,100 security officers who resigned because they had to have income and they weren't being paid."

CBS News

The agency has tracked operational "hotspots" where staffing shortages threaten checkpoint operations: Houston recorded 44 such incidents during the shutdown, New Orleans 35 and Atlanta 32, and the highest single-day national count reached 87 on March 8.

Staffing shortfalls and rising travel demand have forced managers in some cities to consolidate checkpoints or reduce screening lanes, increasing wait times, and disrupted some expedited traveler programs as TSA initially said it would suspend TSA PreCheck before reversing course; the article contains an unclear fragment about U.S. Customs and Border Protection's role as CBP officers were reassigned to regular passenger processing that cannot be fully verified from the text.

Long wait times have material consequences for travelers: security wait times at Houston's William P. Hobby Airport stretched to more than three hours on March 8, prompting advice to arrive four to five hours before flights, and New Orleans airport officials warned passengers to arrive at least three hours early after some travelers missed flights.

“Washington — Unscheduled absences among airport security officers have more than doubled during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with more than 300 employees leaving the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown, according to internal TSA statistics obtained exclusively by CBS News”

CBS News

Travelers quoted included Leah Turney, who said she and her family missed flights after waiting "in TSA just to get to security for four hours," and Ellen Caldwell, who called the situation "insane."

Airline officials warned that heavy spring break travel could worsen delays unless Congress reaches a deal to restore Department of Homeland Security funding.

TSA officers are also approaching a key financial milestone as the first full missed paycheck is expected Friday, raising concerns that more employees could call out if the shutdown drags on, and a DHS spokesperson said TSA employees were being forced to work without pay "for the THIRD time in nearly six months," adding that "the longer this shutdown drags on, the more financial hardship our patriotic officers and their families face, leading to more staffing issues and longer wait times for travelers."

Political leaders traded blame as funding talks stalled: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump "wants the Department of Homeland Security … to be fully funded and fully reopened," and urged Americans to "call your Democrat member of Congress and tell them to fund the Department of Homeland Security."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Brian Schatz said negotiations over funding the Department of Homeland Security have stalled because the Trump administration has not engaged in substantive talks over reforms to immigration enforcement agencies, and Schumer said Democrats had offered to fund several DHS agencies by separating them from disputed funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, adding, "Last week, Thursday, we gave them a chance to fund TSA and other DHS agencies," and accusing Senate Republicans led by Senator Britt of blocking Senator Murray's attempt to pass the bill through.

CBS News

Schatz urged narrowing the dispute, saying, "So let's narrow it to just that and fund the rest of the government," and added, "They should walk onto the floor and offer unanimous consent to open the Coast Guard, to open TSA, to fund FEMA, to fund CISA," concluding, "I guarantee you there will not be a Democratic objector."

The article also references the 2018–2019 government shutdown and prior staffing concerns but contains an incomplete sentence about that episode that prevents full verification from the text.