The U.S. government is on the verge of a shutdown, with Republican leadership racing against the clock to put together a continuing resolution that would satisfy House Republicans.
Plans for a calm holiday season were interrupted Wednesday when House Republicans revolted against a continuing resolution that expanded current levels of government funding until March 14 and included an additional $110.4 billion in spending. The revolt received the backing of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, sending House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) back to the drawing board with just two days until the deadline of midnight Friday.
Congress is required to pass 12 appropriations bills for every fiscal year to fund the government. If funding can’t be secured, the government shuts down, cutting off all nonessential functions. Essential functions include border protection, medical care, air traffic control, law enforcement, and power grid maintenance.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported that over 12,000 air traffic controllers will work without pay if the government shuts down.
Other functions are in a grey area — one of these is the Transportation Security Administration under the Department of Homeland Security. The TSA is largely designated as an essential service, but many of its workers are either furloughed or must work without pay. The lack of pay causes many TSA agents to fail to show up for work, reducing the already depleted force.
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said Thursday that 59,000 of the agency’s more than 62,000 employees are considered essential. However, being forced to work without pay craters employee morale, as seen in the last government shutdown.
The last government shutdown, from December 2018 to January 2019, also occurred during the holiday season. At that time, as much as 10% of all TSA employees called in sick. The results were predictable, with delays and longer wait times.
The shutdown couldn’t occur at a worse time for travel — the period of Dec. 19 to Jan. 2 is the busiest travel time of the year, with the TSA expecting 40 million airline travelers over this period.
Passengers must still be screened for flights, meaning much longer lines and more fatigued TSA agents. Longer lines could lead to more delays and missed flights.
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Other methods of travel will be spared in the government shutdown. Customs and Border Protection are considered essential, so ports of entry will be open and continue as normal. Amtrak receives funding from federal and state governments, but it would take a prolonged government shutdown for its effects to be felt.
The Rail Passengers Association did warn in a statement this week that a prolonged shutdown would “degrade service, while also slowing down upgrades being funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”