Airport security workers to miss paycheck as shutdown drags on.

By KAROUN DEMIRJIAN and MADELEINE NGO

Many Department of Homeland Security employees were on track to miss a paycheck last Friday amid the nearly monthlong lapse in funding for the agency, leading officials to warn of potential disruptions in air travel if more airport security workers call out of work.

Travelers have already experienced long security line delays at some major airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, as Transportation Security Administration workers who scan baggage, check identification and do other tasks have posted absences at unusually high rates.

About 100,000 employees across the Department of Homeland Security were to miss their first full paycheck, an agency spokesperson said. More than 300 TSA officers have left the workforce since the shutdown began, according to the department.

The shutdown stems from a congressional deadlock over how to fund the department, which is also responsible for federal immigration enforcement. Democrats have refused to approve funding without changes to aggressive tactics employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The shutdown has had little direct effect on ICE because of a financial cushion of tens of billions of dollars appropriated by Congress last year to support President Donald Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda.

The brunt of the shutdown, which began Feb. 14, has instead fallen on other agencies housed in the department. Employees deemed essential are required to report to work even without pay.

TSA workers, whose salaries average about $50,000, have been hit hard during recent government shutdowns. Although federal law requires that federal workers receive back pay at the conclusion of a shutdown, workers often struggle to recover from those periods without a paycheck.

But the timing of the latest funding lapse has affected workers even more, union representatives say.

The current pause started barely three months after the end of another shutdown, during which many TSA workers took on second jobs to cover basic living expenses. Although they received back pay when the government reopened after 43 days, many workers have depleted their rainy day funds or have lived on credit they are still paying off, according to union representatives.

“They just don’t have the funds to continue this for very long,” said Johnny Jones, an employee at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the secretary-treasurer of the union representing TSA employees. “They may not have the funds, plus they may not have the spirit.”