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TSA Security Delays May Return in Early May

Long TSA security delays at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta show travelers waiting in airport screening lines.
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5 min read

TSA security delays could return at U.S. airports in early May if Congress does not restore Department of Homeland Security funding before emergency payroll money runs out. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the department's temporary funding path is nearly exhausted after keeping Transportation Security Administration workers paid since late March. The risk is not abstract. During the earlier unpaid stretch of the shutdown, staffing callouts and resignations helped push some airport security lines beyond four hours, turning a Washington funding fight into a direct departure day problem for travelers.

TSA Security Delays: What Changed

The immediate change is the payroll clock. Mullin told Fox News on April 21, 2026, that emergency money used to keep DHS employees paid would run out in the first week of May if the department continued on its current path. Reuters reported that DHS payroll is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks and that the department has been using emergency funds after President Donald Trump directed DHS in late March to pay TSA workers during the shutdown.

That temporary fix followed a long unpaid stretch for TSA employees. Federal News Network reported that the March 27 order directed DHS to redirect funding to pay Transportation Security Administration employees, with paychecks expected as early as March 30. The same report said roughly 60,000 TSA staff had been going without pay during the shutdown, including 47,000 transportation security officers.

The airport consequence is staffing reliability. Reuters reported that more than 500 TSA officers have quit since mid February and that security lines at some airports exceeded four hours in March, the longest in TSA's nearly 25 year history. That does not mean every airport will see extreme lines if the payroll issue returns. It does mean travelers should treat early May departures as more exposed than a normal spring travel week.

Which Travelers Face the Most Airport Risk

The highest risk falls on travelers departing large U.S. hubs during morning and early evening peaks, especially when security queues are already sensitive to staffing levels. Reuters identified Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) as one airport where long TSA lines were visible during the March disruption. Earlier pressure was also reported at major hubs where high passenger volume leaves less slack when checkpoint staffing drops.

Travelers with tight domestic connections are less exposed than travelers starting their trip at an affected airport, because TSA screening usually happens before the first flight. The bigger problem is the outbound traveler who arrives on a normal timeline, encounters a much longer checkpoint queue, and misses boarding before the airline has any obligation to treat the delay like a carrier controlled problem.

International travelers have a second layer of risk. Missed long haul departures can be harder to recover than missed domestic flights because replacement seats are scarcer, same day rebooking is less reliable, and onward hotel, cruise, rail, or tour plans may depend on the original arrival time. Families, infrequent flyers, travelers with mobility needs, and passengers without expedited screening should build the largest buffers.

What Travelers Should Do Before Early May Flights

Travelers departing U.S. airports in the first half of May should check airport and airline advisories before leaving for the terminal, then add more time than they would for a normal spring trip. For larger hubs, that means treating 2 hours before domestic departure and 3 hours before international departure as a floor, not a ceiling, when the airport is reporting unusual checkpoint lines.

Rebooking only makes sense when the trip has little margin. Travelers with a cruise embarkation, wedding, graduation, timed tour, or separate international connection should consider shifting to an earlier flight or traveling the day before if fares and schedules allow. Travelers with flexible domestic trips may be able to wait, but they should avoid last minute arrivals at the terminal and should not assume TSA PreCheck lanes will be immune if staffing pressure becomes widespread.

The signals to watch are concrete: whether Congress passes DHS funding, whether DHS announces another payroll solution, whether TSA or airport social channels report checkpoint delays, and whether airlines begin advising longer arrival times. If unpaid work resumes, the next operational threshold is not the first missed paycheck alone. It is whether callouts rise enough to close lanes, slow identity checks, or concentrate passengers into fewer staffed checkpoints.

Why The DHS Shutdown Spreads To Airports

The shutdown is affecting aviation because TSA sits inside the Department of Homeland Security. When regular department funding lapses, TSA officers may still be required to work, but missed paychecks can increase callouts, accelerate resignations, and reduce the staffing cushion airports need during peak travel banks.

Congress has not finished a DHS funding solution. The Associated Press reported that the Senate passed a budget plan on April 23, 2026, to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, while a separate Senate passed measure would reopen the rest of DHS, including TSA. AP also reported that House Republican leaders had not taken up the broader DHS bill while waiting for progress on the immigration enforcement funding track.

That sequencing keeps the airport risk alive. Budget reconciliation can move with a simple Senate majority, but AP noted that the process is multistep, time consuming, and still requires House action. Until a funding package or another lawful payroll path is in place, TSA security delays remain a live early May risk for U.S. airport travelers, especially at high volume airports where a small staffing decline can quickly become a long checkpoint line.

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