Emergency security lanes at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, one of the airports that were most affected by the ongoing partial government shutdown, were seen being cleared by staff on Monday after President Donald Trump signed an executive order over the weekend to pay Transportation Security Administration officers.
Though complications from hundreds of TSA agents quitting, and even more calling out of work, are likely to continue, the effects of the resumed paychecks could be seen almost immediately.
At Bush, where wait times were more than four hours and lines stretched out of terminal doors and into underground subway tunnels, the emergency appears to finally be over. Fox News filmed airport staff clearing the emergency lanes set up outside the terminal doors. Several travelers could be seen strolling past where the lanes had previously been. Current security wait times listed on the airport’s website are five and nine minutes.
Last week, travelers told Fox News Digital that they had to walk “miles” to get to the back of the security line, and at times, wait times were over four hours. Neither party escaped travelers’ ire over the fiasco, as several told Fox News Digital that they blamed “all congressmen” and “politicians.”
Disagreements in Congress over immigration enforcement have resulted in the Department of Homeland Security experiencing a lapse in funding. Democrats have made renewed funding for the department contingent on a set of reforms, including changes in enforcement tactics by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
Calling the situation an “emergency,” Trump warned that mounting disruptions at airports have pushed the system to a breaking point. On Friday, Trump signed an executive order directing federal officials to ensure that TSA employees receive pay during the DHS shutdown.
TSA agents finally began receiving paychecks on Monday after 42 days without pay, though the department remains unfunded as debates continue to roil in Congress.
TSA agents speaking with Fox News on Monday shared that they had received a paycheck Monday morning but that it was only half of what they were owed. Officers expressed that the TSA workforce remains very frustrated and worried about making ends meet with delayed pay and continued uncertainty.
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According to DHS, 3,101 TSA officers, at a rate of 10.59 percent of the force, called out of work on Sunday.
Houston, whose two major airports are currently undergoing significant renovations, continued to experience some of the highest TSA officer call-outs in the country over the weekend. The airport with the highest call-out rate in the country was Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall Airport, at 38.5 percent. Houston’s Bush and William P. Hobby Airport were ranked number two and three for the highest call-out rates at 36.4 percent and 34.1 percent, respectively.
Airports in New Orleans, Atlanta, New York City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia also experienced significant call-out rates well above the national average.
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DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News that “at the direction of President Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, TSA has immediately begun the process of paying its workforce.”
She decried the continuing funding lapse, saying, “This is the longest government shutdown in history.”
“Enough is enough. We have to reopen DHS,” she said, adding, “Democrats must stop using federal workers as political pawns and start focusing on what matters—taking care of the American people.”
