Washington — Unscheduled absences among airport security officers have more than doubled during the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, with more than 300 employees leaving the agency since the start of the DHS shutdown, according to internal TSA statistics obtained exclusively by CBS News.
TSA officer call-out rates have climbed into double-digit percentages at some airports, including half the officers at Houston's Hobby Airport, straining screening operations and contributing to longer security lines.
Statistics obtained from Transportation Security Administration officials show the nationwide callout rate — unscheduled absences by frontline officers — has risen to an average of 6% during the shutdown, compared with about 2% before government funding lapsed.
Several days saw significantly higher national absence rates. The highest nationwide rate reached 9% on Feb. 23, followed by 8% on March 6 and 7% on March 9, according to the internal data.
The increase comes as roughly 50,000 TSA employees are being required to work without pay during the DHS funding lapse that began Feb. 14.
At individual airports, sick outs have climbed even 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 (19%), William P. Hobby Airport in Houston (18%), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (14%) and Pittsburgh International Airport (13%).
Those figures were compounded by extreme weather events. For example, 77% of officers at JFK and 53% at Newark Liberty International Airport called out on Feb. 23 during a major blizzard, according to the data.
TSA has lost more than 300 employees since shutdown began
The shutdown has also accelerated departures from the workforce. TSA recorded 305 employee separations between Feb. 14 and March 9, and it can take months to replace those officers because of the four to six months of training required before employees are able to work independently at checkpoints.
TSA officials warn that prolonged funding gaps can have lasting effects on the screening workforce because employees who are struggling to cover basic expenses may leave the job entirely.
Behind the scenes, DHS officials worry that the longer the shutdown lasts, the greater the risk that more TSA employees will leave, worsening staffing shortages beyond the immediate crisis. Officials warn that repeated shutdowns interrupting pay continue to make the job less attractive, further undermining recruitment and retention efforts by the federal government 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." If the current standoff drags on, he said, repeated shutdowns could make it harder to recruit new officers, since applicants may question taking a job where they might have to work without pay.
Dozens of "hotspots" threaten to slow checkpoint security operations nationwide
The agency has also tracked operational "hotspots" — incidents where staffing shortages threaten 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 has continued to rise during the shutdown, meaning fewer officers are screening more passengers.
TSA officials say the staffing shortages have forced managers in some cities to consolidate checkpoints or reduce screening lanes, increasing wait times for travelers while remaining officers screen growing passenger volumes.
The shutdown has also disrupted some expedited traveler programs. Last month, DHS initially said it would suspend TSA PreCheck before quickly reversing course and keeping the program open, saying operations would be managed airport by airport. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Global Entry program was suspended as CBP officers were reassigned to regular passenger processing.
First full missed TSA paychecks to come Friday
TSA officers are also approaching a key financial milestone in the standoff: the first full missed paycheck is expected Friday, raising concerns that more employees could call out if the shutdown drags 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 has coincided with increasing airport delays and long security lines at some airports across the country. TSA officers have been working without pay since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, and continued absences among screeners have strained checkpoint staffing.
At Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, security wait times stretched to more than three hours on March 8, prompting travelers to be advised to arrive four to five hours before flights, CBS News previously reported.
Meanwhile in New Orleans, airport officials warned passengers to arrive at least three hours early after some travelers 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 persist.
Leah Turney, who was traveling out of New Orleans, said she and her family missed their flights because of the long lines.
"We were waiting in TSA just to get to security for four hours," she said.
Traveler Ellen Caldwell told CBS News, "I was here three weeks ago for Mardi gras, and it was no problem," adding, "This is insane."
With spring break approaching, no funding deal in sight
Airline industry officials have warned that heavy spring break travel could worsen delays unless Congress reaches a deal to restore Department of Homeland Security funding.
During the 2018–2019 government shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — CBS News reported that unscheduled absences climbedto 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."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Brian Schatz said Tuesday that negotiations over funding the Department of Homeland Security have stalled because the Trump administration has not engaged in substantive talks over reforms to immigration enforcement agencies.
Speaking at their weekly press conference, Schumer said Democrats had offered Republicans a chance to fund several DHS agencies — including the TSA, FEMA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the United States Coast Guard — by separating them from disputed funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Schumer said Republicans blocked that effort.
"Last week, Thursday, we gave them a chance to fund TSA and other DHS agencies," Schumer said. "Senate Republicans led by Senator Britt blocked Senator Murray's attempt to pass the bill through."
"We are in a deep disagreement, but an ongoing negotiation about ICE and CBP," Schatz said. "So let's narrow it to just that and fund the rest of the government."
He added that Democrats would throw their support behind a bill funding those agencies if it excluded immigration enforcement.
"They should walk onto the floor and offer unanimous consent to open the Coast Guard, to open TSA, to fund FEMA, to fund CISA," Schatz said. "I guarantee you there will not be a Democratic objector."
Seiji Yamashita, Kris Van Cleave and Sarah Ploss contributed to this report.
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