More Than 300 TSA Workers Have Quit During Homeland Security Shutdown

The Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown on Feb. 14.

Airline passengers wait in long lines outside the terminal to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on March 8, 2026. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP

More than 300 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees have quit since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) entered a partial shutdown on Feb. 14 after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a funding deal.

“Our hardworking TSA officers are, again, being forced by the Democrats to work without pay—for the THIRD time in nearly six months,” the Department of Homeland Security stated in a post on X on March 11.

The staff departures have caused shortages that are expected to continue, creating long lines at airport security checkpoints across the United States.

Some federal employees have had to turn to nonprofits to help feed their families.

“To any American out there who is struggling without a paycheck, we know that there’s more than 100,000 of you across the country,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on March 10.

“To any American out there who is showing up to an airport and facing incredibly long wait times and lines, call your Democrat member of Congress and tell them to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”

Democrats have demanded an overhaul of how immigration enforcement operations are conducted, which includes prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from wearing masks and military-style uniforms.

Passengers at some airports have been told to arrive three hours before their flights, but even that may not be enough time to get through security checkpoints.

On March 9, flyers at Houston’s Hobby Airport had to spend more than three hours in line, and many still missed their flights.

The Epoch Times contacted the TSA and DHS for additional comment.

During the shutdown, the DHS changed leadership.

On March 5, President Donald Trump nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to take over for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem starting on March 31. Noem will leave her position to become special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

Mullin needs to be confirmed by the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate should focus on other priorities first.

“I’ve been asked if I would support Sen. Mullin as Noem’s replacement,” Schumer wrote in a March 5 post on X.

“The answer is a resounding ‘NO.’ The rot in DHS is deep, much deeper than any individual. It’s a question of policy, not personnel. The Senate should not consider any DHS Secretary nominee until DHS and ICE are reined in.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested on March 10 that Republicans may be willing to negotiate about oversight, de-escalation training, and body cameras, but he said Democrats are not willing to “even sit down and talk.”