How Long Before Airport Security Lines Go Back to Normal?

Relief may be in sight for travelers suffering the hours-long security lines snarling American airports following a presidential directive to issue back pay to Transportation Security Administration officers.The partial government shutdown has taken a severe toll on the agency, pushing TSA call-out rates to nearly 12 percent on Thursday — the highest level since the funding lapse began. Struggling to afford basic necessities after missing paychecks for over six weeks, thousands of employees have missed scheduled shifts, and nearly 500 officers have resigned altogether.In response to the growing chaos, President Trump on Friday signed an executive order directing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA workers immediately. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently confirmed that officers should begin receiving their delayed paychecks as early as Monday.“After the last shutdown, as soon as money hit their accounts, worker sickouts dropped dramatically,” Clint Henderson, a travel expert at The Points Guy, told CBS News. He noted that while wait times will take time to normalize, the impending paychecks should ease the immediate crisis. “Once the money starts flowing again, it will be great for passengers. Every day [TSA agents] go without being paid, it gets worse,” he said.Despite the executive action, the underlying political stalemate remains unresolved. Late Friday, House Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate funding deal, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the Senate bill a “joke” because it excluded funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. The House instead passed its own eight-week stopgap measure, which Senate Democrats have already declared will not pass in their chamber.“This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Mr. Johnson told reporters regarding the Senate bill. He noted that he had spoken with the president, who “understands exactly what we’re doing and why, and he supports it.”The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, immediately dismissed the House’s counter-proposal, saying a measure “that locks in the status quo is dead on arrival in the Senate, and Republicans know it.” Mr. Schumer added, “Democrats will fund critical homeland security functions, but we will not give a blank check to Trump’s lawless and deadly immigration militia without reforms.”While the immediate release of funds to pay TSA agents may ease airport congestion in the short term, labor leaders and officials warn of lasting damage. Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA worker division of the American Federation of Government Employees union, expressed cautious relief.“I guess the action is good for the president, but on the flip side, we have a lot of people that don’t have anything, and I don’t know if this is going to fix it,” Mr. Jones told CNN. “I think one of the questions from the workforce is, ‘Well, is this temporary, or is TSA fully funded now?’”TSA’s acting administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, warned lawmakers this week that hiring replacements for those who have quit will be a difficult hurdle. “Not only is the shutdown decreasing the number of interested candidates, for those we are able to hire, they are required to complete four to six months of training before they are certified to work at checkpoints,” Mr. McNeill said.“The longer-term impacts are more complicated,” Mr. Henderson said. “They will have to hire and train more people, and morale is really bad, so it will be an ongoing issue.”

How Long Before Airport Security Lines Go Back to Normal?

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