--- title: Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times description: The Department of Homeland Security Secretary announced a "ten-point plan" that would get lines moving while keeping Americans safe canonical: https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-13T19:32:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:32:38.054Z article:section: Politics og:title: Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times og:description: There's a ten point plan to get lines moving og:url: https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0659037d00ceb9/698893250a4a224fbb9c9a73/gettyimages-531232234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Secretary Of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson And TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger Speak On Airport Security og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times twitter:description: There's a ten point plan to get lines moving twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0659037d00ceb9/698893250a4a224fbb9c9a73/gettyimages-531232234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 13, 2016 7:32 PM UTC  U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (L) delivers remarks at Ronald Reagan National Airport May 13, 2016 in Arlington, Virginia. Johnson discussed upcoming summer travel, increased passenger volume, and the ongoing steps taken to protect the safety of travelers. Also pictured is Transportation Security Administration Administrator Peter Neffenger (R). Win McNamee—Getty Images U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (L) delivers remarks at Ronald Reagan National Airport May 13, 2016 in Arlington, Virginia. Johnson discussed upcoming summer travel, increased passenger volume, and the ongoing steps taken to protect the safety of travelers. Also pictured is Transportation Security Administration Administrator Peter Neffenger (R). Win McNamee—Getty Images Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 13, 2016 7:32 PM UTC Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson [asked for passenger’s patience while speaking in a Washington, DC airport on Friday](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/tsa-address-extreme-waits-upcoming-summer-travel-season-39095393), as travelers across the country face exceedingly long security lines. During a [press conference ](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-tsa-airport-long-waits-20160513-story.html)at the Ronald Reagan National Airport on Friday, Johnson addressed growing concerns over lengthy wait times due to personnel cuts and an uptick in travel across the country. [_ABC News_ ](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/tsa-address-extreme-waits-upcoming-summer-travel-season-39095393)reports that in the past three years, Congress and the Transportation Security Administration cut the number of screening officers by 10%, costing nearly 5,000 jobs. The TSA had hoped more travelers would gravitate toward their expedited screening program, Precheck, but that has not yet occurred. On Friday, Johnson announced a “ten-point plan” that would get lines moving while keeping Americans safe. “We’re maximizing the use of overtime for our \[screening officers\] to meet the demands at screening checkpoints,” Johnson said, while also announcing the TSA would expedite the hiring of more officers and take additional steps to reduce wait times. “Our job is to keep the American people safe,” Johnson told reporters at a news conference. “We’re not going to compromise aviation security in the face of this.” The Chicago Tribune reports Congress allocated an additional $34 million to the TSA this week, funds the administration is expected to use to hire more staff and pay current workers for overtime. According to [_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-work-long-airport-security-line-waits-n573796), between 2.2 and 3 million people pass through screening checkpoints on a daily basis, but as of now there are not enough officers to meet demand. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/"},"headline":"Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times","datePublished":"2016-05-13T19:32:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:32:38.054Z","description":"There's a ten point plan to get lines moving","url":"https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/","keywords":["Travel","Security","Airports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0659037d00ceb9/698893250a4a224fbb9c9a73/gettyimages-531232234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba0659037d00ceb9/698893250a4a224fbb9c9a73/gettyimages-531232234.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Secretary Of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson And TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger Speak On Airport Security","caption":"Secretary Of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson And TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger Speak On Airport Security","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4329795/homeland-security-airport-wait-times-tsa/","name":"Feds Promise Action to Fight Long Airport Wait Times"}}]}] ```