Eviction notices. Vehicle repossessions. Empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts.
According to union leaders and federal officials, these are among the financial strains Transportation Security Administration officers face during a government funding lapse – the third in less than six months requiring airport screeners to work without pay.
The public is feeling the impact in long airport lines as more TSA officers take unpaid leave to earn money elsewhere or cut expenses. At least 376 officers have quit since the shutdown began on Valentine’s Day, according to the Department of Homeland Security, worsening turnover at an agency that already struggles with high attrition and low morale.
“It’s just exhausting. Every day it just feels like this weight gets heavier and heavier on us,” Cameron Cochems, a TSA union leader in Boise, Idaho, told The Associated Press.
Cochems, who has worked as a TSA agent for more than four years and is vice president of his regional American Federation of Government Employees chapter, said the resignation numbers understate the agency’s staffing problems.
“I think more people are staying with the TSA that don’t want to be here,” Cochems said.
The shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security. The House Committee on Homeland Security is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday on the impact to TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies.
A 2024 Government Accountability Office report found TSA employees have among the lowest morale in the federal government, citing comparatively low pay, inconsistent management, limited recognition and poor work-life balance. While recent raises helped, dissatisfaction remained widespread.
Starting pay for TSA agents is about $34,500, with average salaries ranging from $46,000 to $55,000, according to the agency.
The GAO warned that unless those issues are addressed, departures are likely to continue.
For Cochems, repeated shutdowns have undermined the job stability that drew him to federal service. He already works a seasonal side job screening college sports teams at airports, but with his TSA pay halted, the extra income falls short.
The pressure increased after his wife was unexpectedly laid off.
“Every day I come to the airport and I look at the food drive, see what things I can get for my family,” he said, referring to donation efforts at Atlanta’s airport and others.
It remains unclear how long officers will be required to work without pay. Congress is scheduled to leave Washington for the first two weeks of April. Democrats have said DHS funding will not advance without new restrictions on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.
For travelers, TSA staffing shortages have made airport conditions unpredictable. Wait times have stretched into hours in cities including Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans, causing some passengers to miss flights.
TSA officers missed their first full paycheck last weekend, and absences are rising nationwide, according to Homeland Security. More than half of scheduled staff were absent Sunday at a Houston airport. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 38% of officers missed work Wednesday.
“I’ve heard from officers who cannot afford copayments for cancer treatments or office visits for their sick children,” said Aaron Barker, a TSA union leader in Atlanta.
Checkpoint closures have added to delays, with wait times swinging sharply during the day. Early Friday, waits at Hartsfield-Jackson topped an hour before dropping below five minutes and later climbing to 75 minutes.
In a Fox News interview, acting Deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl warned the shutdown could have lasting staffing effects. He said attrition rose 25% after the previous shutdown and is likely to worsen without restored funding.
“We saw an uptick of 25% attrition after the last shutdown, and so this is going to continue and worsen – not get better, get worse – if we don’t get a resumption of normal operations, DHS funded and money back into our TSA officers’ pockets,” Stahl said.
Former TSA administrator John Pistole said about 1,100 officers quit during last year’s record 43-day shutdown.
