Washington, United States. US airports could face renewed long security lines as early as May after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said emergency funding to pay Transportation Security Administration workers would run out.
The warning comes as Congress seeks to end a partial shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.
Emergency funds for TSA payroll
President Donald Trump in late March directed DHS to use emergency funds to pay TSA workers who had gone without paycheques for about six weeks, causing disruptions at US airports. Mullin told “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday that the money would run out by early May.
“That money is dried up if I continue down this path the first week of May, because my payroll at DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks,” Mullin said. He said after the next paycheque, “There is no more emergency fund, so the president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there.”
TSA workers also went unpaid for six weeks last autumn during an earlier partial government shutdown.
Airlines call for swift action by Congress
Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu told Reuters on Tuesday that Congress has to move quickly to fund DHS. “You cannot ask these (TSA officers) to go through this a third time,” Sununu said. The group represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and others.
In March, a weeks-long standoff in Congress caused security lines at some airports to exceed four hours, the longest in the TSA’s nearly 25-year history. More than 500 TSA officers have quit since mid-February.
Budget talks and competing demands
Senate Republicans will move forward this week on a budget blueprint that would boost funding for DHS agencies for the next three years, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, as Congress aims to end the partial shutdown of DHS.
Democrats have pushed for new constraints on ICE and Border Patrol, which operate under DHS, before authorizing additional funds. They have argued that ICE and Border Patrol should be subject to the same operational rules as police forces across the United States, including a requirement that agents obtain judicial warrants before entering private homes.
What steps do you think Congress should take to prevent further disruptions at US airports?
