--- description: DHS said that 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the shutdown began in February. title: TSA Official Warns Some Airports May Close If DHS Shutdown Continues image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt282cbd03ab84849a/69b9d5c1a8d4478163db7aa1/TSA-Airports-Shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Travel](/tag/travel/) ## Travel Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # TSA Official Warns ‘We May Have to Quite Literally Shut Down Airports’ If DHS Shutdown Stretches On by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 17, 2026 10:42 PM CUT  Airline passengers wait in long lines to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on March 8, 2026\. The line stretched from the security checkpoint into the lower level baggage claim area to the lower level parking garage. Airline passengers wait in long lines to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on March 8, 2026\. The line stretched from the security checkpoint into the lower level baggage claim area to the lower level parking garage.Brett Coomer—Houston Chronicle/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 17, 2026 10:42 PM CUT An official with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shared an alarming message on Tuesday: If Congress doesn’t end the ongoing [partial government shutdown](https://time.com/7378601/government-shutdown-congress-ice-dhs-democrats-polls/ "undefined") soon, some airports might have to “quite literally shut down.” “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 call-out rates go up,” Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told [Fox News’ Fox & Friends](https://www.foxnews.com/media/tsa-official-warns-smaller-airports-could-shut-down-amid-dhs-funding-crisis "undefined"), referring to instances of agency staffers calling off work as they go without paychecks during the shutdown. “A lot of these officers can’t afford to come in,” Stahl added. The partial shutdown, which is only affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), [began on Feb. 14](https://time.com/7378601/government-shutdown-congress-ice-dhs-democrats-polls/ "undefined") because Democrats and Republicans were deadlocked over immigration enforcement. Democratic lawmakers refused to pass an appropriations bill that would fund DHS unless the agency implemented [new guardrails](https://time.com/7358586/government-shutdown-democrat-demands-ice/ "undefined") on federal immigration agents, in the aftermath of federal officers [shooting and killing two American citizens](https://time.com/7368923/minneapolis-ice-operation-protests-renee-good-alex-pretti/ "undefined") in Minneapolis at the start of the year. The White House and many of their Republican colleagues, however, argued that Democrats’ proposals would impede the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement agenda. While the impact of the ongoing shutdown isn’t as widespread as that of the full government shutdown this past fall, it has, once again, thrown air travel into chaos. Several airports across the country have reported major staffing shortages among TSA agents, sometimes leading to hours-long security lines. TSA agents are considered essential workers, meaning that they have to continue working even without pay during a shutdown. Government officials and industry leaders have raised concerns about the toll the shutdown—and the two others preceding it within the past year—has taken on TSA workers. DHS [said](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/03/17/spring-break-under-siege-democrats-reckless-dhs-shutdown-forcing-tsa-officers-work "undefined") on Tuesday that 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the shutdown began in February, and that callouts among agents have spiked at airports across the country, with rates reaching as high as 55% at Houston Hobby International Airport on Saturday. Some TSA workers have had to take on other jobs to earn wages amid the shutdown, at times calling out of work to do so. On Sunday, the CEOs of several major U.S. airlines sent an [open letter](https://www.airlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/260315%5FOpen-Letter.pdf "undefined") to Congress, urging lawmakers to find a bipartisan solution to end the ongoing shutdown and emphasizing the impact the lapse in DHS funding has had on the air travel industry. “TSA officers just received $0 paychecks. That is simply unacceptable,” the CEOs said in their letter. “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.” Stahl said that TSA is running out of options to help airports that are struggling with thinned-out staffing. “We’re doing absolutely everything we can,” Stahl told _Fox & Friends_ on Tuesday. “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.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/"},"headline":"TSA Official Warns ‘We May Have to Quite Literally Shut Down Airports’ If DHS Shutdown Stretches On","datePublished":"2026-03-17T22:42:08.451Z","dateModified":"2026-03-17T22:42:15.292Z","description":"DHS said that 366 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the shutdown began in February.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/","keywords":["Travel","Congress","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt282cbd03ab84849a/69b9d5c1a8d4478163db7aa1/TSA-Airports-Shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt282cbd03ab84849a/69b9d5c1a8d4478163db7aa1/TSA-Airports-Shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TSA-Airports-Shutdown.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Brett Coomer—Houston Chronicle/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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/travel/","name":"Travel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/","name":"TSA Official Warns ‘We May Have to Quite Literally Shut Down Airports’ If DHS Shutdown Stretches On"}}]}] ```