The White House turned down Elon Musk’s offer to cover TSA agents’ salaries as they continue to work without pay amid the partial government shutdown.
“We greatly appreciate Elon’s generous offer,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, told Business Insider. “This would pose great legal challenges due to his involvement with federal government contracts. The fastest way to ensure TSA employees — and all DHS employees — get paid is for Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The billionaire CEO on Saturday wrote in a social media post that he’d like to cover the salaries of TSA workers “during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.”
As of Wednesday, TSA workers missed at least one paycheck as Congress remains at an impasse over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The funding lapse has led to staffing shortages and hourslong lines at airports across the country.
As a countermeasure, the Trump administration deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to address airport disruptions.
Airport security is unraveling at some US airports as TSA agents call out en masse — but officials say it could get even worse.
Adam Stahl, the acting deputy administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said on Fox News on Tuesday that some airports may close as the partial shutdown drags into its 5th week.
“Frankly, there’s not much else we can do,” he said. “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.”
Stahl added that the National Deployment Office, which has sent relief staff to airports to help overwhelmed agents, is “fully depleted.”
It’s unclear which airports would close, how that decision would be made, and whether TSA staff at those airports would stay home or be deployed to busier locations.
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The more than 50,000 agents who screen passengers and luggage at roughly 450 airports across the country have received only one partial payment since DHS funding lapsed on February 14.
Smaller airports typically handle fewer flights and have less connecting traffic than larger hubs, but even limited closures would ripple across the system — adding costs and time for both travelers and airlines.
The possibility of airport closures comes on top of an already extremely busy spring break travel period. The US Travel Association estimates a record 171 million people will fly in the US in March and April.
Still, the chaos seems random so far. This author flew through Las Vegas and Los Angeles over the weekend and saw short lines; other major airports like Miami and Boston haven’t felt much impact either.
The TSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The general and TSA PreCheck lines at Las Vegas airport were empty on Monday night.
Taylor Rains/Business Insider
TSA agents, deemed “essential” employees and working without pay during the shutdown, received their first $0 paycheck over the weekend.
In a joint letter on Sunday, airline CEOs from carriers like Delta, Southwest, and FedEx urged Congress to pass legislation protecting TSA, customs, and air traffic control workers from being affected by government shutdowns.
Roughly 21% of the security staff at Atlanta — the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic — as well as at New York-JFK and Houston Hobby Airport have called out in recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security said.
That has led to checkpoint wait times exceeding 3 hours, with lines snaking out the doors, into parking garages, and onto airport sidewalks. The average nationwide call-out rate before the shutdown was less than 2%, per the DHS.
That has more than doubled since the shutdown began. The agency added that 366 transportation security officers have left the TSA between the start of the shutdown and Monday.
“These numbers illustrate the severe operational strain caused by the shutdown, underscoring the urgent need for resolution to restore stability, morale, and security at America’s airports,” the DHS said in a statement. “TSA funding must be restored immediately.”
Federal officials said they suspended TSA PreCheck and Global Entry Sunday morning at 6 a.m. ET, but in many US airports, the lanes remained open past the deadline.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday night that it would shut down the expedited airport security and immigration lanes due to the partial government shutdown, which left the department without funding.
The Transportation Security Administration, which operates PreCheck and is an agency of DHS, said it was evaluating the situation on “a case-by-case basis.”
“At this time, TSA PreCheck remains operational with no change for the traveling public,” a TSA spokesperson said Saturday morning. “As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly.”
Travel chaos at airports is often an impetus to end government shutdowns. TSA and customs agents are considered essential employees and are working without pay during the partial shutdown, as they did for 43 days during the full shutdown in October.
Last year’s shutdown ended after air traffic controllers began to call out after several $0 paychecks. The 2019 shutdown ended soon after mass callouts temporarily halted travel in New York.
Social media posts showed that PreCheck lanes were still operating at major airports on Sunday, including Minneapolis, Washington, DC, and Orlando, hours after the 6 a.m. cutoff.
The injection of confusion comes on an already stressful travel weekend, with many flights canceled as the country prepares for a blizzard in parts of the Northeast. Airlines like JetBlue and Delta have preemptively said some flights in the region will be canceled and have offered travel waivers to affected flyers.
TSA PreCheck allows approved travelers to keep shoes and jackets on and leave laptops and liquids in bags, while Global Entry provides expedited passport control when returning to the US from abroad.
Both programs are widely used by frequent flyers and business travelers and are designed to help agents handle more travelers more efficiently through facial recognition and automation. If the lanes close, wait times at airports could increase significantly.
TSA PreCheck costs $76.75 per traveler for a five-year pass (renewals start at about $58); Global Entry, which includes PreCheck, costs $120. DHS said passengers with active memberships will be able to fly using standard security or immigration lines.
CLEAR, a separate, privately run expedited checkpoint, appears to be operating.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the agency is “making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions” and prioritizing the “general traveling population” at airports.
“Without appropriations, TSA simply cannot afford to risk overstretching our staff and weakening our security posture,” she added.
The lanes would reopen once the agency secures funding, DHS said.
