More Than 3,120 TSA Agents Call Out Sick

Transportation Security Administration agents have been working without pay since the Department of Homeland Security entered a partial shutdown on Feb. 1

ICE agents assist TSA officers at John F. Kennedy Airport on March 26, 2026. (This image has been digitally altered to conceal personal identification.) The Epoch Times

Thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents called out sick on March 25, as long lines persisted at airports across the United States due to the ongoing funding impasse affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“This reckless shutdown has driven nearly 500 TSA officers to quit, while thousands more are forced to call out because they can’t afford gas, childcare, food, or rent,” Lauren Bis, the acting assistant secretary for the Office of Public Affairs at DHS, told the Epoch Times in a statement on March 26.