The Department of Homeland Security has been partially shut down since February 14. Lawmakers are deadlocked over immigration enforcement following the January killing of Alex Pretti by border agents. Democrats are demanding mandatory body cameras. Republicans are refusing. The result is a historic travel crisis.
Aviation workers are caught in the crossfire. TSA and FAA employees have missed paychecks for over 40 days. Nearly 500 TSA officers quit their jobs entirely. Daily call-out rates spiked past 40 percent at several major airports. Travelers are facing the highest security wait times in TSA history. People are constantly asking is TSA getting paid. Relief is finally coming. The underlying political battle is far from over.
President Donald Trump signed an emergency executive action on Friday. The measure redirects existing federal funds to immediately pay TSA employees. The goal is to curb the massive delays at airport checkpoints.
That’s not accurate. TSA is experiencing the longest wait times in history.https://t.co/NML4v8Bd4E
— Piyush Mittal 🇺🇸🇺🇦🟧🌊🌈 (@piyushmittal) March 28, 2026
The overarching funding bills remain completely stalled in Congress as of Saturday. The Republican-led House passed an eight-week funding measure for the entire DHS on Friday night. They explicitly rejected a Senate-passed bipartisan bill that would have funded the department while excluding ICE and CBP.
The aviation industry is furious. The Modern Skies Coalition represents over 60 travel and aviation organizations. They released a joint statement demanding immediate legislative action.
“Congress has the power to end this dysfunction once and for all, and must use any legislative vehicle to accomplish this goal,” the coalition stated according to a detailed report published on Saturday.
Three bipartisan proposals already exist to resolve the pay issue. The Aviation Funding Solvency Act, the Aviation Funding Stability Act, and the Keep America Flying Act are all sitting on the table.
Chris Sununu is the president and CEO of Airlines for America. He published a scathing op-ed in The Washington Times slamming the legislative inaction.
“Right now, lawmakers are sitting on their hands doing nothing with three viable, bipartisan bills that could prevent this mess,” Sununu wrote.