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Airport delays continue to worsen as a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance in the Senate Friday.
Officials have warned that some smaller airports could be forced to close due to staffing shortages, and wait times aren’t expected to improve until government funding is restored and TSA officers receive paychecks.
Democrats declined to provide the support needed to move the funding measure toward final passage. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he would offer an alternative measure Saturday to fund just the Transportation Security Administration, which screens passengers and luggage for hazardous items.
That too is likely to fail as lawmakers hold a rare weekend session.
Security lines and screening worsen at some airports
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.
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.
More than 300 TSA employees have left the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown.
Michael Wyke / AP
Wait times of 120 minutes were reported at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston early Friday afternoon, while Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reported an 80-minute wait time at its main checkpoint.
“Get it passed. Work together. Come together so that we can continue to pay our people and care for the folks who keep our nation running,” Corinne Gunter, who was at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Friday, told CBS News.
Elon Musk offers to pay TSA officers’ salaries after missed paycheck
Billionaire Elon Musk said in a social media post Saturday morning that he would pay the salaries of TSA workers.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” he wrote.
The vast majority of TSA employees are considered essential and continue to work during the government funding lapse, even without pay.
“Our people are hurting,” acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl said earlier this week. “We have individuals sleeping in their cars, drawing blood to afford to pay for gas to get to work.”
Pittsburgh International Airport partnered with a local food bank to help TSA agents and some other federal workers affected by the government shutdown. A pop-up food bank in South Florida fed nearly 200 TSA workers and their families as they go without a paycheck, Feeding South Florida president Paco Vélez told CBS News.
Congress standoff over funding, immigration enforcement practices
Behind the scenes, work toward resolving the standoff intensified Friday as White House border czar Tom Homan met with a bipartisan group of senators for the second consecutive day. Democrats are demanding changes to immigration enforcement practices by federal agents following the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Democratic lawmakers left the meeting with Homan without commenting. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said that he sees “deal space” coming out of the discussions with the White House. But he also questioned whether Democrats were serious about reaching any agreement that would provide more money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“This is a pox on everybody’s house,” Thune said. “You’ve got people standing in lines at the airports. This needs to be fixed. It needs to get resolved and there are good-faith efforts being made finally on all the relevant issues.”
On the Senate floor, Schumer said he agreed that TSA needs to be reopened as quickly as possible — but not under the terms Republicans are offering, which is to fund the entire Homeland Security department. Democrats are looking to fund TSA while continuing negotiations on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Tomorrow, America will see the matter crystal clear: which senators want to open up TSA, pay TSA workers, and end the chaos at our airports, and which senators are going to block TSA funding yet again,” Schumer said.
Democrats have demanded an array of policy changes as part of a funding bill that include requiring ICE agents to get a warrant from a judge before forcefully entering homes. They also are looking to require agents to wear identifying information on their uniforms and ban the use of masks.
Michael Wyke / AP 
The Trump administration says it has agreed to several changes already, including expanded use of body-worn cameras, with an exception for undercover operations, and limited civil enforcement activities at certain sensitive locations, such as hospitals, schools and places of worship. Republicans also note that Trump has fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and put Homan in charge of operations in Minneapolis, actions they say show the administration’s intent to make changes in ICE’s operations.
Congress is scheduled to go on an extended break near the end of the month for a two-week Easter recess. Thune has threatened to keep senators in Washington if the impasse is not resolved.
“I can’t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down,” Thune said.
