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Hundreds of hardworking TSA screeners are being asked to keep America moving while the government plays political games in Washington, and now those same screeners face the gut-punch of missing a full paycheck on October 24 if the shutdown continues. Essential workers are still on the job without pay, and the strain of that unfair choice—support your family or do your duty—was predicted weeks ago as the first full missed pay period approached.
Already we are seeing the predictable result: unscheduled absences have spiked and airports have been forced to close screening lanes, producing long lines and angry travelers who have every right to demand better. Data from several major airports show absences have more than doubled compared with last year, and managers are scrambling to plug gaps with reserve officers while passengers pay the price.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has quietly used budget maneuvers to keep some law-enforcement elements paid while rank-and-file workers—and the taxpayers who rely on timely, secure travel—are left dangling. The administration’s patchwork approach to who gets paid and who doesn’t looks less like leadership and more like political theater, and that’s a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of public servants holding the line.
Reports from the field describe pressure from management to discourage sick calls and keep shifts staffed despite workers not receiving pay, a coercive posture that will only make morale worse and safety riskier if it persists. This is where the bureaucracy’s priorities are laid bare: optics and cover-ups over common-sense treatment of essential employees who are doing the job no matter what.
If Congress won’t act, Americans will see longer TSA lines, more delays, and the erosion of confidence in institutions we count on for safety and commerce—especially during the busiest travel weeks. Lawmakers who refuse to fund the government are playing with people’s livelihoods and public safety; every day this shutdown continues, it’s clear whose side they’re on and whose they have abandoned.
Patriotic Americans should stand with TSA screeners and other essential workers who show up each day, and they should demand that Congress stop this political grandstanding and restore pay and order immediately. It’s time to stop the politics, put paycheck protection and law-abiding commonsense back at the top of the agenda, and reward the men and women who keep our airports safe instead of punishing them for Washington’s failures.
