Acting Deputy TSA Administrator: ‘We May Have to Quite Literally Shut Down Airports’

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator: ‘We May Have to Quite Literally Shut Down Airports’

Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl warned Democrats that if they don’t end the partial shutdown of DHS, the department will have to close airports.

Stahl said on Fox & Friends:

We’re doing absolutely everything we can. We have a national deployment office force, and we’ve fully depleted that. So at this point we’re fully stretched, and so frankly, there’s not much else we can do as the weeks continue.

If this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if callout rates go up and we can’t, a lot of these officers can’t afford to come in.

I talked to one officer this week. She’s a single mother, and she has a special needs child, and she can’t afford to pay for special needs child’s child care.

So again, I believe it’s frankly unconscionable that we have Senate Democrats that are playing, you know, they’re holding our folks’ financial livelihood hostage over political games, political partisanship. So we really need to get back to normal order.

Acting Deputy @TSA Administrator Adam Stahl on how the Democrats' shutdown of @DHSgov is impacting air travel:

"We're fully stretched… if this continues, it's not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports."

Democrats need to fund DHS! pic.twitter.com/js4EQFUVkN

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2026

🚨 DEMOCRAT SHUTDOWN IS HURTING TRAVELERS & TSA WORKERS:

—10.19% of TSA employees called out
—>300 TSA agents have quit
—3,255 total U.S. delays
—981 total U.S. cancellations pic.twitter.com/8szBSbD9pz

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 17, 2026

DHS stopped receiving funding on February 13 after Democrats threw a fit about reforms for ICE and Customs and Border Protection.

However, the partial shutdown hasn’t affected ICE or CBP because Congress already allocated those funds.

The partial shutdown has hit TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard.

With fewer TSA agents, travelers wait 2-4 hours to get through security.

“We are in spring break travel season and expecting record numbers of people to take to the skies,” stated A4A President and CEO Chris Sununu last week. “Airlines have done their part to prepare; now Congress and the administration must act with urgency to reach a deal that reopens DHS and ends this shutdown. America’s transportation security workforce is too important to be used as political leverage.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said TSA has already lost around 300 agents.

Airlines’ CEOs pleaded with Congress to end the partial shutdown.

I like how the CEOs pointed out that the resolution is in their face and they can end the chaos right now:

This problem is solvable, and there are solutions on the table. Now it’s up to you, Congress, to move forward on bipartisan proposals that will get federal aviation workers—including TSA officers, U.S. Customs clearance officers at airports and air traffic controllers—paid during shutdowns. First, leaders should immediately come together to reach an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Then they need to act so this problem never happens again. Specifically, Congress should pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act and the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which would guarantee air traffic controllers are paid regardless of the government’s funding status, as well as the Keep America Flying Act, which would provide the same protections to TSA officers who are tasked every day with keeping Americans secure in the skies.

TSA officers just received $0 paychecks. That is simply unacceptable. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid.

How about we privatize aviation security?

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