TSA Faces a Major Problem Amid Government Shutdown

At midnight on Wednesday, the United States federal government shut down after Congress failed to pass a budget, forcing hundreds of thousands of federal employees nationwide into furlough until lawmakers reach an agreement.

While some industries across the country will be largely unaffected by the government shutdown, it is a particularly big problem for the airline industry, particularly the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Government Shut Down

According to a report from Reuters, the government shutdown was caused by "deep partisan divisions" as Congress and the White House were not able to come to an agreement on a federal budget.

The outlet reported that the government shutdown could begin what it described as "a long, grueling standoff" that could impact the airline industry.

"There was no clear path out of the impasse, while agencies warned that the 15th government shutdown since 1981 would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, slow air travel, suspend scientific research, withhold pay from U.S. troops and lead to the furlough of 750,000 federal workers at a daily cost of $400 million." Reuters wrote on Wednesday.

Major Problem for TSA

The impact of the government shutdown will vary greatly across industries, with some feeling little to no impact while others are substantially impacted. The airline industry is expected to be among those substantially impacted, and much of that will be felt by the TSA.

When the government has shut down in the past, it has led to staffing shortages as TSA workers were forced to work for deferred paychecks. If the shutdown is long-lasting, those workers will eventually be unable to afford to continue coming in to work.

"It's gonna keep being business as usual until the money runs out for the people coming to work every day," said Sean O'Dell, secretary of AFG 615, which is the union that represents the TSA officers at John Glen International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. "It'll get to a point where we can't afford to pay for gas to come in. People can't afford to pay for childcare. They won't be able to do their everyday lives because they'll be broke."

Obviously, this is a pretty significant problem for the TSA that could cause bottlenecks and delays at airport security checkpoints across the country if the agency is understaffed.