03.22.26

Democrats Need to Do Their Jobs and Fund Homeland Security

Senate Democrats Are Bent on Holding the Government Hostage by Repeatedly Refusing to Fund the Department of Homeland Security, Even as DHS Employees and Their Families Face Real Hardship

FULLY AWARE OF THE PAIN THEIR SHUTDOWN IS CAUSING, DEMOCRATS HAVE BLOCKED FUNDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY OVER A DOZEN TIMES

“We’re fully stretched. If this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports.” – Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl

“We are very serene with what is going on.” – Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) (3/11/26)

  • On Friday, Democrats once again voted against considering funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (H.R. 7147: Roll Call Vote #59 – 3/20/26)
  • And today, nearly every Democrat is poised to vote against proceeding to Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) nomination to be secretary of homeland security. (Senate Cloakroom: post on X – 3/21/26)
  • Democrats know their shutdown is causing pain across the country: “White House officials and Democrats on Capitol Hill know the shutdown pain is about to get a lot worse.” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)
  • “White House officials also huddled with travel industry officials on a call this week as fears inside the administration intensify about the worsening situation in the short- and long- term.” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)
  • “‘I’m extremely worried, not just short term but throughout the summer,’ said an administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly. ‘World Cup and America250 could be crippled if this isn’t resolved asap.’” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)
  • “On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune suggested he may cancel the Senate’s recess if the shutdown is not over by then.” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)

DEMOCRATS HAVE BROUGHT THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) TO ITS BREAKING POINT

“It shouldn’t take a letter from 10 CEOs. It should just take walking into one TSA line, looking one [TSA screener] in the eyes by a member of Congress or the Senate, and having to explain why they don't get a paycheck. I don’t know why the federal government thinks they can just write their own rules and play by a different set.” – Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu

“As the financial pressure grows, more workers will be forced into impossible choices. The lines will get longer. The delays will get worse. The officers who haven’t left for more reliable employment will carry the burden of a system that treats them as expendable.” – American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley

  • “Long lines to get through screening at some of the country's biggest airports have made airport conditions increasingly unpredictable. Wait times have stretched into multiple hours at some airports, with passengers in cities like Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans reporting delays long enough to miss flights.” (CBS News: Airport delays worsen as Congress fails to pass DHS funding bill that would pay TSA workers – 3/21/26)
  • “More than 400 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit since a partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14 has left them working without pay, the Department of Homeland Security said.” (NBC News: More than 400 TSA officers have quit since shutdown began – 3/21/26)
  • “As of Tuesday, 366 screeners have quit their jobs since the shutdown began. Thousands haven’t shown up to work.” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)
  • “A former Transportation Security Administration administrator said worsening airport wait times as TSA workers go without full pay present a security risk for American air travelers. ‘From the standpoint of a suicide bomber, or a shooter, (who) wants to go in and just shoot up this area, the airport, where people are in these long queues … it’s a double problem.’ former TSA administrator John Pistole told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.” (CNN: Former TSA administrator fears terrorists may see slowed TSA operations as vulnerability – 3/20/26)
  • “Travelers who showed up 2 ½ hours before their flight worry they’ll miss it” (CNN: Travelers who showed up 2 ½ hours before their flight worry they’ll miss it – 3/20/26)
  • “TSA officers missed their first full paycheck last weekend, and absences are climbing nationwide, according to Homeland Security. More than half of scheduled staff were absent Sunday at an airport in Houston. At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 38% of officers missed work on Wednesday and 32% on Thursday.” (CBS News: Airport delays worsen as Congress fails to pass DHS funding bill that would pay TSA workers – 3/21/26)
  • “This week, Philadelphia International Airport said it was closing some of its security checkpoints for staffing reasons. New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in New Orleans are additionally seeing increased absences, between 25 to 40 percent each.” (Politico: Shutdown enters critical phase as TSA shortages expected to expand – 3/19/26)
  • “The data highlighted call outs for several significant airport TSA on Tuesday:”
    • “John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK): 30.1%”
    • “Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT): 29.1%”
    • “Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY): 35.8%”
    • “Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): 34.6%”
    • “Houston Hobby Airport (HOU): 40.8%”
    • “George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): 28.3%” (ABC News: ABC News: TSA says nearly 10% of its officers called out sick Tuesday – 3/18/26)

DEMOCRATS’ SHUTDOWN IS SERIOUSLY HARMING THE LIVES OF TSA AGENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

  • TSA “[e]mployees are dealing with ‘eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts,’ [Aaron Barker, the local American Federation of Government Employees union president for Atlanta] said, while the travelers they serve may not even realize the hardship.” (CNN: TSA workers face reality of working without pay as passengers unaware of the shutdown see long lines – 3/18/26)
  • “‘I’ve heard from officers who cannot afford copayments for cancer treatments or office visits for their sick children,’ Barker said.” (CNN: TSA workers face reality of working without pay as passengers unaware of the shutdown see long lines – 3/18/26)
  • “Antoinette Wade already works a second job, but she’s picking up additional hours at a spa. Her husband has applied for part-time employment at a restaurant and a movie theater. Both are Transportation Security Administration agents at a Mississippi airport, where they have been working full time without pay since Feb. 14.” (Spectrum News 1: Food banks, gift cards, cash from family: How TSA agents are getting by during shutdown – 3/20/26)
  • “‘We’re doing what we can to make ends meet,’ Wade told Spectrum News. ‘I’m working other jobs. My husband is putting in applications to work other jobs, and in every household that I know of, TSA employees are doing that,’ said Wade, who serves as president of American Federation of Government Employees 1047, the union representing TSA workers in Louisiana and Mississippi.”
    • “We’re trying to supplement and figure out how we can get loans or max out credit cards.” (Spectrum News 1: Food banks, gift cards, cash from family: How TSA agents are getting by during shutdown – 3/20/26)
  • “As vice president of AFGE Local 1127 in Boise, Idaho, TSA worker Cameron Cochems said he has been coordinating food drives for his colleagues.”
    • “‘We have these big tables in the hallway full of mac and cheese and cans of soup and food, so people are just grabbing those on their way to the break room or when they’re getting off work,’ he said.” (Spectrum News 1: Food banks, gift cards, cash from family: How TSA agents are getting by during shutdown – 3/20/26)