TSA PreCheck will remain operational for now, a spokesperson for the agency said Sunday, reversing earlier indications that the Department of Homeland Security’s expedited screening program would be suspended amid the department’s funding lapse.
However, the TSA “will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly” depending on “staffing constraints,” the spokesperson added in a statement.
“Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies,” the statement said.
The Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program allows vetted passengers to forgo customary security check-in lines for quicker passage. U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry, which offers similarly rapid check-ins for Americans at U.S. ports of entry, was also suspended. The TSA spokesperson did not address that status of that program on Sunday.
The suspension of both programs, first reported by The Washington Post, was supposed to start at 6 a.m. ET on Sunday, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed congressional Democrats and said the lack of funding endangers Americans and puts personnel in a financial bind.
“Shutdowns have serious real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security,” Noem said in a statement.
The DHS funding shutdown started Feb. 14 as the White House and Senate Democrats negotiate changes to DHS and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency after two people were killed by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis amid a federal immigration crackdown.
Personnel at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the TSA and the Coast Guard aren’t being paid, though most will continue coming to work because their jobs are considered critical.
ICE and Customs and Border Protection personnel are continuing their paid work under $75 billion in funding approved last year under President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending law.
Noem said CBP and the TSA will prioritize “the general traveling population,” while FEMA will halt non-disaster responses amid the funding lapse.
“This is particularly important given this weekend another significant winter storm is forecast to impact the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States,” she said in her statement Saturday.
