Airport security delays amid the partial government shutdown have created weekend travel nightmares, with massive TSA lines choking terminals across the country, unpaid officers calling out in growing numbers, and President Donald Trump vowing to send U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports to try to stem the tide of American angst.
“This is insane,” a frustrated passenger told CNN at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, regarded as the busiest airport in the world. “We didn’t think it was going to be this bad.”
“It’s pandemonium out there,” another added in videos posted to social media this weekend.
“We shouldn’t have to deal with this just to get on an airplane,” an X poster raged — a complaint that now captures the mood at airports nationwide as travelers absorb the fallout from Washington’s funding fight.
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The chaos is being fueled by deepening TSA staffing shortages during one of the busiest travel stretches of the season due to spring breaks for schools and colleges. Officers are working without pay under the shutdown, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned absenteeism, resignations and delays are likely to worsen if the stalemate drags on.
More than 400 TSA workers have already quit since the shutdown began Feb. 14, according to DHS.
The immediate concern for travelers, though, is far more fundamental: getting through the checkpoint before their flight leaves.
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Among the most eye-popping wait times and airport line scenes reported this weekend:
Atlanta (ATL): Reported wait of 153 minutes early Sunday, with lines described as wrapping around baggage claim.
New Orleans (MSY): Security line reportedly stretched into the parking garage.
Houston (IAH/HOU): Some passengers reportedly faced waits of up to two to three hours, with Hobby Airport hit especially hard by staffing shortages.
JFK (New York): Waits climbed to 75 minutes Sunday morning after being much lower a day earlier.
Newark (EWR): Delays reached 44 minutes at points.
LaGuardia (LGA): Waits rose to around 20 minutes, lower than other major hubs but still up from minimal waits the previous day.
Cincinnati (CVG): Third-party tracker estimates showed waits approaching nearly an hour.
San Juan (SJU): Third-party tracker estimates also showed waits approaching nearly an hour.
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The full national picture remains murky because official TSA tools are no longer reliably current.
“Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed,” a red alert atop the My TSA app reads Sunday. “Click here for more information.”
That link reveals the data has not been updated for more than a month:
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“This website was last updated on February 17, 2026 and will not be updated until after funding is enacted. As such, information on this website may not be up to date. Transactions submitted via this website might not be processed and we will not be able to respond to inquiries until after appropriations are enacted.”
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DHS has said more than 10% of TSA officers called out on more than half of the past seven days, with some airports averaging absence rates near 20%. At Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, the rate reportedly climbed above 40% on certain days. Those no-shows have forced lane closures, longer backups and wild swings in wait times from one hour to the next.
For weeks, Republicans in Congress have been sharing the narrative – with photos and videos of TSA security delays – “thank a Democrat.”
Trump even went so far as to call Democrats the “greatest enemy” Americans face, as he continues to declare victory over Iran.
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“Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!” Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social.
Trump’s post came after his vow to send ICE agents to overwhelmed TSA security checkpoints at American airports. Coincidentally, Democrats have forced the Senate’s government shutdown for DHS funding over alleged abuse of power by ICE agents in Democrat-run sanctuary cities and states.
But, as Trump and Republicans frequently remind their counterparts, ICE is already fully funded since last summer’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so shutting down DHS appropriations is not accomplishing its stated goals.
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“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, hailing border czar Tom Homan as the fixer the TSA chaos needs urgently.
“But watch, no matter how great a job ICE does, the Lunatics leading the incompetent Dems will be highly critical of their work. THEY WILL DO A FANTASTIC JOB. The great Tom Homan is in charge!!!”
Democrats blasted the idea, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., calling it “another reckless, lawless threat to misuse ICE agents,” and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., accusing Trump of “manufacturing chaos at airports for political leverage.”
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned the mess could get much worse, saying current delays may look like “child’s play” if TSA personnel miss another paycheck. Officials have even suggested some airports could face deeper disruptions — or possible closures — if the staffing crisis keeps intensifying.
For now, airports are urging travelers to arrive at least three hours early, even for domestic departures. But for passengers staring down marathon lines, the advice is landing more like a warning than reassurance: the shutdown is no longer just a fight in Washington — it is now a checkpoint crisis playing out in real time at airports across America.
“The current unpredictability is being driven by unpredictable staffing levels, basically, how many TSA officers are showing up for work on any given day,” Sheldon H. Jacobson, , the founder professor of engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert on aviation security and airport security screening, told Business Insider.
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“TSA officers have historically been cross-trained to do many different tasks, so the number that show up is the key factor,” Jacobson said.
ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security, the domain of TSA, which has 65,000 employees, including 50,000 airport security officers. ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown.
“He seems to have no concept of what the limits are on ICE, and I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they’ve been breaking down doors at homes,” Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.
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Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, on Saturday offered to cover TSA paychecks “during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.”
Homeland Security historically has shifted resources across agencies during emergency staffing shortages, said Stewart Baker, who was a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Keeping TSA going without paying staff creates “serious trouble” for the agency, Baker said.
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Using ICE agents for airport security “may be slower than using trained people, but it would be better than having nobody,” he added.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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