Over 300 TSA employees leave as airport absences surge amid DHS shutdown: Report

Unscheduled absences among airport security officers more than doubled during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, while more than 300 employees left the Transportation Security Administration since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, according to internal TSA statistics obtained by CBS News.

The data showed the nationwide call-out rate, or unscheduled absences by frontline officers, rose to an average of 6% during the shutdown, compared with about 2% before govt funding lapsed. The highest nationwide rate reached 9% on Feb. 23, followed by 8% on March 6 and 7% on March 9.




The increase came as roughly 50,000 transportation security officers were required to work without pay during the DHS funding lapse that began Feb. 14.

At individual airports, absences rose more sharply. At Houston's Hobby Airport, 53% of officers called out on March 8, with 47% calling out the following day, resulting in nearly half of scheduled officers not reporting to work during the two-day stretch.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport, TSA officers averaged a 21% absence rate during the shutdown, the highest among major airports. Other heavily affected hubs included Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 19%, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston at 18%, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport at 14% and Pittsburgh International Airport at 13%.

The figures were compounded by extreme weather events. According to the data, 77% of officers at JFK and 53% at Newark Liberty International Airport called out on Feb. 23 during a major blizzard.

The shutdown also accelerated departures from the workforce. TSA recorded 305 employee separations between Feb. 14 and March 9. Replacing those officers can take months because employees require four to six months of training before they are able to work independently at checkpoints.

TSA officials warned that prolonged funding gaps can have lasting effects on the screening workforce because employees struggling to cover basic expenses may leave the job entirely. DHS officials were also concerned that the longer the shutdown lasted, the greater the risk that more TSA employees would leave, worsening staffing shortages beyond the immediate crisis. Officials warned that repeated shutdowns interrupting pay continued to make the job less attractive, further undermining recruitment and retention efforts by the federal govt over the long term.

"It's a huge morale hit for TSA," former TSA Administrator John Pistole told CBS News, adding that he worries adversaries could try to exploit "a perceived vulnerability because there's not as many people at TSA showing up for work," particularly as airport security lines grow longer.

Pistole also warned that extended shutdowns can have permanent and lasting effects on the workforce. After the 2025 shutdown, he noted, TSA "lost nearly 1,100 security officers who resigned because they had to have income and they weren't being paid." He said that if the current standoff dragged on, repeated shutdowns could make it harder to recruit new officers, since applicants might question taking a job where they could have to work without pay.

The agency also tracked operational hotspots, incidents where staffing shortages threatened to slow checkpoint operations. Houston recorded 44 such incidents during the shutdown, followed by New Orleans with 35 and Atlanta with 32. Nationwide, the highest single-day count reached 87 hotspots on March 8.

Travel demand continued to rise during the shutdown, meaning fewer officers were screening more passengers. TSA officials said staffing shortages forced managers in some cities to consolidate checkpoints or reduce screening lanes, increasing wait times for travellers while remaining officers screened growing passenger volumes.

The shutdown also disrupted some expedited traveller programmes. Last month, DHS initially said it would suspend TSA PreCheck before quickly reversing course and keeping the programme open, saying operations would be managed airport by airport. However, US Customs and Border Protection's Global Entry programme was suspended as CBP officers were reassigned to regular passenger processing. The programme was ultimately reactivated as the shutdown continued.

TSA officers were also approaching a key financial milestone in the standoff, with the first full missed pay cheque expected Friday, raising concerns that more employees could call out if the shutdown dragged on.

In a statement to CBS News, a DHS spokesperson wrote that TSA employees were being forced to work without pay "for the THIRD time in nearly six months," adding, "the longer this shutdown drags on, the more financial hardship our patriotic officers and their families face, leading to more staffing issues and longer wait times for travelers."

"It's time for Democrats to end these political games, pay our TSA officers, and re-open DHS," the spokesperson added.

The staffing strain at TSA checkpoints coincided with increasing airport delays and long security lines at some airports across the country. TSA officers had been working without pay since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, and continued absences among screeners strained checkpoint staffing.

At Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, security wait times stretched to more than three hours on March 8, prompting travellers to be advised to arrive four to five hours before flights, CBS News previously reported.

In New Orleans, airport officials warned passengers to arrive at least three hours early after some travellers missed flights due to long TSA lines, while officials at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport also cautioned that extended waits were possible as staffing shortages persisted.

During the 2018–2019 govt shutdown, the longest in US history, CBS News reported that unscheduled absences climbed to nearly 8% by mid-January, eventually peaking to around 10% of officers on some days as workers went without pay, raising concerns about whether checkpoint staffing could keep up with travel demand.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that President Trump "wants the Department of Homeland Security … to be fully funded and fully reopened," and she urged Americans affected by the shutdown to "call your Democrat member of Congress and tell them to fund the Department of Homeland Security."