TSA official: ‘Not hyperbole’ to suggest airports may close if shutdown persists

A senior Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official warned Tuesday that some airports could be forced to close if lawmakers fail to quickly reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end the partial government shutdown. 

In an interview on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends,” acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl said the agency is running out of options to blunt the impact of the funding lapse.

“As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,” Stahl said. “A lot of these officers can’t afford to come in.”

Most TSA officers are deemed “essential” to government functions and are still required to work during the shutdown, despite not receiving a paycheck. The added financial pressure has strained staffing levels across the country and has led to a sharp rise in call-out rates. 

According to internal TSA data, more than 300 officers have left their posts since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, and the rate of unscheduled absences has more than doubled. Roughly 50,000 TSA officers are required to work without pay during the shutdown, according to the agency.

Some airports around the country have seen hours-long lines at security, with officials warning passengers to arrive, in some cases, up to five hours before their scheduled departure time.

TSA has relied on its National Deployment Force (NDF) to ease the pressure, sending additional Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) to airports that have faced the most severe staffing shortages or surges in passenger volume. 

The NDF has eased some of the immediate pressure at airports with lines wrapping around the terminals, but officials say they expect the problems to continue.

“We’re doing absolutely everything we can,” Stahl said. “We have a national deployment office force, and we’ve fully depleted that. So, at this point, we’re fully stretched, and so frankly, there’s not much else we can do.”

DHS has now gone more than a month without funding, marking the third-longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Democrats have pushed legislation to fund many of the agencies housed under DHS, including TSA, but have said they would not vote to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection without significant reforms to their operations.

Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing the standard DHS appropriations bill and have accused Democrats of rebuffing efforts to sit down and negotiate.

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