TSA lines reach 3 hours at major airports amid Homeland Security funding cut crisis

Houston Hobby Airport houston, texas, It had lines lasting an average of 3.5 hours at one point on Sunday — while Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana asked passengers to arrive at least three hours before their flights, Reuters reported.

The delay is “severe fallout” from the “democratic shutdown” of DHS, Loren Pace, DHS’s deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

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“Today, travelers are experiencing TSA lines that are nearly 3 hours long at some major airports, causing missed flights and significant delays during peak travel,” Pace said.

“These political stunts force our patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from dangerous threats, to take action.” Unpaid work“, she said.

Houston Hobby Airport (pictured) in Houston, Texas had lines averaging up to 3.5 hours at one point on Sunday. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first completely lost paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absenteeism and severe staffing shortages.”

A TSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that passengers should arrive “as soon as possible” to avoid missing their flights.

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“As staffing restrictions emerge, TSA will evaluate each case individually and adjust operations accordingly,” the spokesperson said.

Wait times at airports are expected to increase as the closure continues, leaving TSA officers in a worrying position.

Passengers were seen in a security line in Houston that extended from the security checkpoint to the baggage claim area and the parking garage. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trade association representing Major US airlines She said flights were delayed and passengers missed flights due to long security lines, according to Reuters.

“Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach an agreement that reopens the Department of Homeland Security and ends this shutdown,” Chris Sununu, CEO of Airlines for America, said in a statement. “America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”

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Sununu said TSA officers will receive their first empty paycheck on Friday, according to Reuters.

Nearly 1,110 TSA officers left the agency in October and November 2025 amid a 42-day government shutdown, TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil told Congress in February.

A TSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that passengers should arrive “as soon as possible” to avoid missing their flights. (Brett Comer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

with World Cup After less than 100 days, staffing shortages could become a stress point at airport checkpoints.

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Training a new TSA officer usually takes about four to six months.

Boston-based traveler Ileana Patterson told Reuters that the security lines were… New Orleans Airport Wrapping around the station, you arrive through the exit to the nearby car park.

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“My flight was delayed, but if it hadn’t been, I would have been a little worried,” she said.

Reuters contributed reporting.